Restart the Killing School Trip!
by Usy
Summary: "What cycle is this? Are we even in the double digits anymore? We're stuck in the loop of 'memory wipe, the murders, the truth and then the restart.' All 18 of us, the original 16 with two more thrown in... and we're all trapped in this cycle, destined for eternal murder... and there's nothing I can do about it! Will someone ever remember... Me? I'm just going to forget ever-"
1. Chapter 0 - Hidden Remnant of Despair

**Chapter 0 – Prologue – The Hidden Remnant of Despair**

* * *

 _Despair... Queen Despair... Junko Enoshima... Must... Carry... Out... Despair..._  
 _Despair... among Despair... that's all I feel… that's all I can feel. But Despair is failing… Queen Despair is dead… Remnants of Despair have been caught… Killing game started again… and finished… it failed. Despair's second hand… Izuru Kamukura commanded me to stay here… hide, never leave, never ever leave, or she will be gone forever… but despair is failing… Kids of Despair are gone… Sister of Hope… has defeated the Despair over here… must kill Hope… Despair among Despair… Despair… over… hope…_

"Toko! This is it, he must be in here!"

"C-Careful Komaru! He's a Despair remember!?"

 _Last stand… but Queen Despair… was ready for this… I am ready… Remember Izuru's orders…  
'When Hope is restored among Despair, when I and the others are captured, when the next Killing Game fails, hide. Do not show your face, let them find you.'  
Hope must burn… hope must be destroyed… Despair will never… die…_

"This is the last door! He has to be here Toko! Once we've done this everything will be ok!"

"S-Stop being so optimistic… we're about to approach a killer!"

"But Future Foundation can help him!"

"Hey, did you even watch the school trip!? It did not work at all!"

"B-But they're not dead right? It was just some online game…"

"Komaru! You do remember everyone, including Master and your brother are still trapped in there?"

"Yes but it's almost time! Future Foundation said they can get everyone out. They just needed this guy, the hidden Remnant of Despair."

"Y-Yes… then I can finally see Master again. Master will be sooo happy that I found him before those others dumb agents! O-Ok open the door Komaru."

"W-Why me?"

"Well you figured out he was in here! And it was your dumb idea!"

"Alright, I'm doing this to save you Makoto!"

"Still with that brother complex."

 **BANG CRASH**

"Ah! You didn't have to kick the door down Komaru!"

"Sorry I got excited. Come on Toko, let's get him!"

 _Despair… time to strike…_

 _"_ There he is! Grab him!"

 _"_ _Mrrnngghhh…"_

"You're cornered… so just come quietly so we can help you."

"Komaru I told you that you can't reason with them. Just grab him and tie him up."

 _Hope… must… be… destroyed… attack! I cut the rope… boxes fall on the genocider._

 **CRASH**

"Gah! He set a trap for us! Komaru move this crate off me!"

"Coming!"

 _I leap at the sister of Hope… knife in hand…_

 **CRASH TUMBLE**

"KYAAAAAAAAAAH! G-Get off me!"

 _"_ _Die!"_

 _I raise the knife… the light of her eyes reflects off the blade… the eyes of hope… I drive the knife for her neck!_

"N-No!"

"Nghh!"

 _She's holding my arm back… must kill… push harder! The knife reaches her neck…_

"Toko HELP!"

"I'm coming! I've almost… escaped…"

 _I push harder… the blade touches her neck…_

 **ZAP**

 _Genocider shocked me… I fell back…_

"Don't touch my friend like that."

"Careful Toko, he could still be awake."

"I shocked him with my stun gun, he should be out."

 _"_ _Hehe… electricity doesn't… hurt me..." I say… and then I leap… once again…_

"Eeek!"

 **CRASH TUMBLE**

"Man you don't give up, guess I gotta bring her out. Not really sorry about this but it's for master."

 _Genocider then points the stun to herself… then shoots._

 **ZAP**

"Now it's myyyy turn."

 _Genocider then runs at me… her tongue sticking out… I raise my blade and strike back…_

 _"_ _Hraagh!"_

 _"_ Too slow! You're not very quick with that thing little boy."

 _We fight… but she's quicker… a scissor slits my skin… but I must fight… I strike again… she dodges… and again… again… and again… until it kills me…_

 **Clatter**

 _Dammit… she disarmed me… no… not enough…_ _Despair… but sister of hope… has been struck… and real mission… has been enacted… Despair will… once again rule… With my capture…_ _ **infinite Despair**_ _… will happen._

"I-I got him, how are you Komaru?"

"H-He hurt me pretty hard… but I should be ok. You didn't kill him right?"

"No, but he's going to have a few wounds… now we just bring him to Future Foundation and things should be fine. They'll ship him off to that island and they'll get master out…"

 _"Gah...nghh..graaaghhh.. ***cough* *splutter*** "_

"Eh? You alright sugar plum?"

"Huh? I-I think h-he's bleeding!"

 _" ***Blarrgh..**_ ** _ **.** gragh... hrugh...*_** _"_

"Holy zombies that's a lot of blood!"

"I-I thought you said you didn't kill him!"

 _ ***Thump***_

"Kyah! C-Call help! He's going to die!"


	2. Chapter 1 - Minigames and Killing Games

**Quick note: This story will switch between the P.O.V. of different characters, it should be obvious who it's on, but if it's not stated instantly it will be soon. Seeing how I portray the view of other characters should be interesting. The narrator should only be used for the start of the story, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Restart the Killing School Trip!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 – Minigames and Killing Games**

"Hey! Are you listening to me? Are you ok?" Komaeda asked to Hinata, who was on the floor.

"Wha… what?" Hinata said in confusion as he pulled himself up.  
 _Agh… dammit my head hurts. It hurts… a lot!_

"Hey… are you feeling ok?" Komaeda asked.

"Y-Yeah…" Hinata said slowly, trying to clear his head.

"Well that's good, my name is-"

"Nagito Komaeda." Hinata finished off.

"Huh? How did you know…?"

"I… I don't know… it just kinda popped in my head." Hinata admitted.

"Oh… maybe you saw it online? There was a forum about Hopes Peak Academy and its attendants."

"Hmmm."  
 _No… I didn't visit that site… something weird is happening._

"Well how about I show you around? I've had a chance to talk to eve-"

"No thanks." Hinata denied.  
 _Something about this guy… I'm not sure I should hang out with him… this weird 'feeling.' I can't pinpoint it but… I just… what?_

"Huh?! A-Are you sure?" Komaeda replied in surprise.

"Y-Yeah… could you just… leave me alone?!" Hinata said more aggressively than he meant to.

"Oh… Sorry." Komaeda pouted before leaving Hinata.

 _That was weird… I didn't mean to snap, but I did… it must be the situation. Let's see, we were taken to this island… I guess I should introduce myself to everyone. Let's see, the E-Handbook shows that there are 17 other Ultimates I to meet… wait how did I know I had a E-Handbook? It must be the shock of everything…_

* * *

"Hinata!" Komaeda called before running over to Hinata.

"Oh, hey. Sorry about before."

"No hard feelings, it's just the heat of the island. By the way have you spoken to everyone?"

"Still haven't introduced myself to those two." Hinata said as he pointed to two people discussing in-between the cottages.

"Same here."

"Did you read about them online?" Hinata asked.

"I haven't been able to talk to them properly yet but I know the tall girl is Sato. I talked to the boy briefly but I didn't get his name… but now I wonder…" Komaeda goes into some thought before talking again. "Since they're talking, how about we check the E-Handbook?"

"Yeah." Hinata responded.  
 _If we both didn't have much information on who they were then maybe it would be better to find out a bit first before talking to them._

"You shouldn't stare for so long." An authoritive female voice called, it was Sato. "If you want to speak with us then speak, do not hesitate." It sounded almost like an order, Hinata found himself walking towards them both without realising.

"I guess we have an excuse to join in and talk now." Komaeda said optimistically. Sato was a tall slender girl with a strong stature, long chestnut hair and brown eyes. She carried a bow and quiver on her back and was wearing tradition Japanese silk garments. The short boy besides her was very different in contrast, wearing a modern casual blue jacket. He had disturbingly black eyes and short black hair with a fringe covering his left eye slightly.

"You must have come to introduce yourself, I'll start then. My name is Kettei Tsuki, the Ultimate Determined. It's nice to meet you." Tsuki said cheerfully.

"Ultimate Determined? What does that mean?" Hinata asked.

"Woah, you better be careful with a question like that." Tsuki warned, still cheerful though. "Haha, you'll start an argument."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked in confusion.

"Ooooh I remember! Tsuki there was a post about what your talent really meant online." Komaeda said.

"Ah so you saw that? There was a lot of online flaming and arguing over what my talent really is. Apparently some game brought a lot of controversial opinions about it." Tsuki responded.

"Yeah, a lot of people also claimed you were a fake as well. No one by your name was accepted into Hope's Peak Academy." Komaeda mentioned.

"Yeah you're right. There was a lot of debate whether I was good enough to get in by the academy, but I found out today I was accepted." Tsuki explained.

"Today?! You got accepted the day we start?" Hinata questioned.

"Hehe, yeah, I got the letter of official invitation this morning. Things are a bit blurry from there… like everyone else said as well but I ended up here like you guys. But enough about me, this is-" Tsuki said, as he was about to introduce Sato but she interrupted him.

"Akiko Sato, the Ultimate Archer. I look forward to speaking with you all." Sato finished.

"Sato, you've won numerous archery contests haven't you?" Komaeda asked.

"Indeed, that's how I made a name for myself." Sato confirmed, after a few moments of silence she spoke up again.

"Introduce yourself." She ordered.

"Oh, I'm Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student. It's not much of a talent compared to you all but oh well." Komaeda said before turning to Hinata.

"Uh, my name is Hajime Hinata…" He said, Sato gave him an expecting look.

"And your talent?" She asked.

"We aren't going to judge. Two of our talents here are kinda unorthodox." Tsuki said.

"No it's not that… I just don't remember." Hinata admitted.

"How weird… maybe it didn't mean that much?" Tsuki suggested.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"Well some people here practically live by their talent while others kinda just roll with it. If you managed to forget your own, then it must not have been that important to who you are." Tsuki explained.

 _But… a talent is really important. I just forgot mine… that's it.  
_ "I think it was just the shock of being here." Hinata replied nervously.

"I see what you mean Tsuki." Komaeda said. "When we met Owari she didn't really care about her talent but Sato carries her talent with her, am I correct in thinking archery is really important to you Sato?"

"You are. It is part of my identity." Sato confirmed.

"Well then you have nothing to worry about Hajime! You haven't lost your identity." Tsuki said.

"I guess…" Hinata said, conceding to their logic.

"There is something we should discuss with others." Sato said, changing the topic. "The reason me and Tsuki were talking beforehand was because of something disturbing I noticed."

"Disturbing?" Hinata asked.

"When I visited the cottage with my face by it I noticed something weird, the wardrobe already contained clothes similar to my liking. I asked Tsuki to change his cottage and the same thing, he has clothes similar to his style." Sato explained.

"So… whoever kidnapped and brought us here already knew what sort of clothes we wear?!" Hinata deduced, his own words concerned him.

"How weird." Komaeda commented.

"It is worrying… but have we really been kidnapped?" Tsuki asked. "I mean this really could be some sort of exam like Komaeda said before. Hope's Peak Academy… could be behind this."

"I don't think we have much to worry about then." Komaeda replied.

"Wait what?! You're just going to accept that and us living on this island?" Hinata gasped.

"Haha, well I don't mind for a while. I didn't really expect us to have a normal school life…" Tsuki said casually.

"Everything is safe and it's a good chance for us all to learn about each other, all we have to do to get off is collect those Hope Fragments." Komaeda added on.

"You're just going to believe that?" Hinata doubted.

"Well I do want to get off this island as well…" Sato said. "They can't keep us here for long I'm pretty sure it's illegal. A school can't keep us away from our families for too long, we all have people to see."

 **Ding dong, bing bong.**

"Was that a school bell just now…?" Hinata said.

"Hey, look at the monitor over there." Komaeda pointed out.

"Congratulations everyone, you've taken your first into collecting all the Hope Fragments." Usami said through the monitor. "Sooo… I've prepared a present for everyone that'll make you all veeeery happy! A special **minigame**! Please gather at the beach where we all first met."

"That rabbit… gives me the creeps." Sato admitted.

"Really? Haha, I guess miniature talking animals have that effect." Tsuki said.

"Well she said to meet at the beach…" Komaeda reminded.

"I-Is that going to be ok…? I have a bad feeling about it." Hinata said.

"We shouldn't run from it then, if Usami has something to say we should listen." Sato announced before walking off.

"Guess we should follow her." Tsuki said.

"Come on then, let's go." Komaeda said before the three walked headed over to the beach.

* * *

"Hmph, it appears we've all arrived. We have a while to talk before that rabbit returns." Togami announced, various other Ultimate's compliment the island before Togami reveals to them that this is likely the Jabberwock islands. Some are nervous and talk about a way to get off the island.

"What if we build a raft with the trees?" Hinata suggested.

"Nonono! That's against the rules!" Usami chastened as she appeared. After going through the rules of the school trip and how they aren't allowed to litter Mioda speaks up.

"Hey didn't you say we were going to play a game?!" Mioda asked.

"Oh yeah, a minigame." Nanami specified.

"Of course I did! I added a new rule to your E-Handbook." Usami explained, everyone took out their E-Handbooks and looks, there is a new rule.

 **Rule 5:  
Once in a while the teacher will set a minigame for the students to bond over.**

"We have to play a fucking minigame!?" Kuzuryū shouted as he always does.

"Maybe you should give some actual input in the conversation instead of cursing?" Koizumi scolds.

"What the hell did you say to me bi-" Kuzuryū shouts back but Koizumi doesn't let him finish.

"Don't you curse again! Boys need to hold their dirty tongues!"

"Hey, I think we should find out more first." Nanami interrupts, before the argument could resume…

 **RUMBLE-RUMBLE**

"Yeees! Arise Minigame Platform!" Usami announces loudly as the grounded started to shake. Sand whips up, hindering the Ultimates' views completely.

 _"Wh-What's happening!?" Hinata gasps.  
"The sand is staining my otherwise pristine clothes." Togami complains.  
"I-Is the ground really shaking?!" Tsuki shouts.  
"Everyone calm down!" Sato calls but to no avail.  
"I-Is this an earthquake?" Sonia asks.  
"It appears someone has angered a dark god, fear not for I will defeat them!" Tanaka claims.  
"No! Mr. Crabssss! I'm not done crushing you! Come back!" Saionji screams.  
"Sand in eyes! Someone help Ibuki!" Mioda pleads._

* * *

I wipe the sand from eyes, I still have the feeling of queasy ness in my stomach, the same one you get when in an elevator moving up. I get up and look around to see my classmates pretty confused, most of them fell over, only a few managed to keep their balance when the ground had trembled. Togami, Owari, Sato, Pekoyama and Nidai. The latter three are helping other people up.

"Hinata you alright?" Komaeda asked me as he lifted himself up.

"No! The ground just…" Then it hits me, I look past Komaeda and saw the blue sky. We had been raised up on a platform. "Komaeda! Look!"

"Woah! I hope we aren't going to get pushed off. That wouldn't be hopeful way to ki-" Komaeda replied but his last words are cut off by a flying Usami placing a fence on the edge.

"This is the Minigame Platform! Here we will hold our hopeful minigames!" Usami announced before making her way next to a giant wheel with an arrow on top of it, similar to the one you see on quiz shows when deciding a question topic. The wheel is split into 18 different sections, each section has one of our pixel faces on.

"On the count of three I will spin the wheel, whoever it lands on will be theme of our minigame!" Usami said way too happily. "1... 2… 3!"

 **Ding**

The wheel starts spinning and people start voicing their opinions.

"Can I ask what you mean by theme? How can we be a theme?" Sonia asked in confusion.

"Hey! I ain't no theme!" Owari complained.

"Do you fools really not understand? Think about it." Togami said, clearly disappointed. The wheel is still spinning.

"What do you mean by that?!" Koizumi asked.

"I think I know what he means, what makes us all special? _Unique_?" Komaeda mentioned.

"Oh, our Ultimate talents of course." Tsuki answered.

"So the minigame we play will be based off that person's talent… probably." Nanami theorised.

"Yup! Even now you're all working together! I also need to mention the winner earns a special prize so everyone do your best!" Usami encouraged… what happens if I'm picked? I don't remember my talent. The sound of the wheel slows down.

 **ClickClickClick, Click, Click, click… click… click.**

I turn my attention to the wheel and who it lands on… Nekomaru Nidai.

"Bwahaha! I can be the first example! Tell me little animal, what am I supposed to do?" Nidai asked as he walks up to Usami.

"Well a special event has been picked out for all your other classmates and it's your job to tell them what to do and how to do it! Don't forget to give an inspirational speech!" Usami explained, missing out a large key detail.

"Sure! But what's the event?" Nidai asked.

"For the Ultimate Team Manager, as a man who rallies others, the event is a race of course! You're the motivator and the winner gets an oh so special priiiize! Now everyone be sure to do your best!" Usami explained.

"What has a race got to do with Nidai's talent?" Pekoyama asked.

"Actually any sport is related to me." Nidai answered. "Sure it isn't exactly a team sport but my job is about bringing spirit out of an athlete so that they perform at their best!"

"Hey that's good and all but why have we been lifted in the air on this platform?!" Soda complained.

"For dramatic effect of course! Anyway the race has been laid out so the platform will now descend! Everyone hold tight!" Usami warned before the platform we were all on starts shaking and dropping down. Eventually we made it to the ground… thank god.

"Sand! Beach! Oh beautiful ground never leave me again!" Soda greeted to the floor.

"Kyahaha! Lying on the ground suits you!" Hiyoko laughed.

"Pick yourself up! You should act like a man!" Koizumi scolded before grabbing Soda's shirt and pulling him up, ouch. Looks painful.

"Who placed these race track?" Komaeda asked, I turn my attention to what he meant. The coast of the island had a white line signifying the track…

"That's not possible. We were only on that platform for a few minutes." I replied.

"Phwoo! Anything is possible with this magic stick, now if the racers take place so that Nekomaru could give his speech!" Usami announced, this is ridiculous. No one would race at a time like this.

"Fuck that, I'm not taking place in a dumb race." Kuzuryū said dismissively.

"I-I'm not v-very good at r-running." Tsumiki stuttered.

"Well I'm up for it! The prize could be food right?" Owari said as she takes place.

"The prize is _very_ special!" Usami replied.

"Hey Hinata are you going to compete?" Komaeda asked to me, I turn to him at his outrageous request.

"What?! Why should I?" I respond.

"Well that prize could have something to do with your talent? I'm curious." Komaeda said… there is a chance but it's pretty unlikely. Still I really want to know what it is…

"But… are we really just going to race because a rabbit told us to?" I respond back.

"Well it's nothing dangerous, just a race."

"I don't stand much if a chance against the Ultimate Gymnast."

"Well you may as well try, c'mon I'll race too." Komaeda said over optimistically… I can't believe I'm considering this… I check to see the competition, unsurprisingly not everyone was willing to race.

"I think I'll pass." I reply… something bad is going to happen. A feeling of dread and fear… something really bad… and it feels familiar somehow.

"Ok the first to know is that by participating you all-" Nidai started to say but he stopped at something…

The skies suddenly darken.

"Hey! Someone switched off the sun!" Mioda said.

 **Crackle… crack**

A sound of static then filled the air, everyone looked in silent shock… then it could be heard.

"Mic check, mic check! One two, blah de blah bargh… Yes, yes we've done this before." It said through the monitor, something wasn't right. The voice contained malice beyond all thought behind its laidback casualness. My body shuddered.

"Don't be surprised! You all shouldn't be… riiiiight? Anyway let's get this show on the road again! Everyone meet up at the statues again!" It squeaked menacingly.

"N-No! That voice… that's impossible!" Usami gasped "…It's all up to me to stop him!" Usami announced before disappearing.

"The was an unusual occurrence… we should all head over to the centre island." Togami said.

"It's best if… we go too. Jabberwock Park, let's go." Nanami replied.

"What about my food prize?" Owari asked, completely oblivious.

"No time for the race, we should hurry." Pekoyama dismissed before heading off, she was joined others.

We all ran over as quickly as we could. A small robot bear known as Monokuma appears, claiming to bring back the despair once again. He the proceeds to defeat Usami and transform her into Monomi with a diaper…

"Aaaahahahaha! It feels good to beat up Monomi again!" Monokuma laughs. "Now then let's skip the part where you all cry about the Monobeasts."

We all express our surprise at another stuffed animal joining in… Monokuma then goes on to explain that this is now a 'Killing School Trip' where we must kill each other and not get caught through the class trials. People shout about how messed up that is until…

"Puhuhu. You guys must be professionals by now."

"What do you mean by that?" Togami questioned.

"Y-Yeah! I haven't killed anyone before!" Soda added on.

"Puhuhu… maybe you haven't. But what about those around you? Are you _sure_ they aren't murderers?" Monokuma said.

"Bluhuhu blub, blub. Murderers?" Mioda asked.

"I-I won't believe that!" Hanamura said.

"Yeah whatever let's hurry this up! Too boring!" Monokuma shouts over us. "Time to kill Monomi then leave you all to wallow in this boring second rate despair."

"Uwah! What do you mean by th-" Monomi tried to say but Monokuma didn't give her the luxury to finish off before the statues in the middle started to make noises.

 **Crack**

Large mechanic monsters leap out and into the air before they start open fire on Monomi instantly…

 **BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG**

My ears were burning at the sound… once again various people starting screaming at Monomi's death before we noticed Monokuma kept to his word and had disappeared with what I assume were the Monobeasts. We all stood in silence for a moment, taking it all in…

"W-What the hell can we do against a monster like that?!" Nidai shouted in terror.

"Th-they're real? Surely it's more likely we all just hallucinated the same thing!" Tsuki doubted.

"N-No! I didn't see anything…" Hanamura denied.

"We can't deny that those things were indeed there." Sato argued back.

"Impossible! That's impossible!" Soda said.

"Not exactly impossible." Togami denied. "Those 'Monobeasts' are likely machines… meaning someone is controlling them and Monokuma."

"Who could be responsible?" Pekoyama asked. No one had an actual answer of course, leading to more worry among the group.

"There is something we need to be more concerned about then the one behind this." Togami said. "More than anything, we must be cautious of… **ourselves**. Being brought to a tropical island with complete strangers, and ordered to kill each other to escape… that creates fear we want to escape. That fear is our worst enemy."

* * *

I checked my E-Handbook and it was true. Rule 6 was about the class trial, rule 7 about the executions… and more rules leading to a total 13 in total. I read them all, it's important to know them. After memorising them I grabbed my new diary.

 _Day 1  
I was able to talk to everyone for the first time today! Monokuma showed up and things turned bad!_

"Huh? That's a very nice picture but is that all you're going to write Chiaki?" Monomi asked me, we were in my cottage.

"Well… I don't know what else to write."

"How about you try adding more detail? You have 17 other students to write about!"

"I guess… but why is there 17? I was originally told there would be 15 others. Did something happen?" I questioned.

"O-Oh… I really can't say. A lot happened that you don't know about… but that means they might need help just like the others."

"Hmm… so they are real?" I asked, this was a really important question. Monomi seemed to know something big had happened but couldn't tell me… hmm…

"I-I… I can't say."

"Do you know who they are Monomi?"

"O-Oh, you don't even know that Chiaki? I-I can't say then… I'm sooorry."

"It's ok, I understand." I replied before checking my E-Handbook, looking at the list of my classmates. On the male side was the nine boys… the last two was Hinata and Tsuki. On the girls side the last two was Sonia and Sato. So if this was added in order of entrance considering it isn't in chronological order or any other order apart from gender… assuming the new students were just added, that would mean that the two new students could be…

Hinata and Tsuki.  
Tsuki and Sato.  
Sato and Sonia.

The two new students are one of these pairs… probably. That's mean one of them _could_ be like me, not real. The only suspicious one is Hajime because he doesn't know his talent… hmm… Of course I can't ask them or say who I am, I can't talk about it or write about it… at least I can think about it. Like a real person…

"Monomi can you tell me what Hinata's talent is?"

"U-Um… As teacher I know what it is, kinda… but you know I'm not allowed to talk about that. A teacher cannot give that sort of information away!"

"Yeah, I think dad talked about the importance of keeping someone's secret. Ok I think I know what to write about."

 _Day 1  
I was able to talk to everyone for the first time today! Monokuma showed up and things turned bad! I decided I'm going to write more here as well. I think I might not be alone… Someone else here might understand me! I'm going to find out in any way I can!_

"How's that Monomi?" I asked.

"Wh-wh-whaaat?! I didn't realise you were able to… hint like that Chiaki! I'm sooo proud!"

"I'm… surprised too."

* * *

 _Monokuma's Graveyard Theatre!_

 _Welcome to the first and not last MGT, and that doesn't stand for male groping tournament! Anyway, I'm glad you could all join me here again for another spree of killing! And you were kind enough to provide me with_ _ **two**_ _new students to get killing or killed as well! I almost forgot you were trying to kill me before. Anyway, onto the now! The MTG can of course only be viewed by my viewers, here we will hold_ _ **live**_ _interviews with the dead, ready to hear the_ _ **Despair**_ _from them first hand! After all, since this is our second shot at this we have to have something new… but we're missing something. New students, new theatre, new minigames… ahah! Of course! We need new murders! And for that I need to provide new motives! Hell I'll even open up the islands in a different order! That is all for tonight, thank you and goodnight Future Foundation!_

* * *

 _Wait! Wait! I'm not done yet! I forgot to tell you a lot, if you make any attempts to enter my game again I'll kill the_ _ **three**_ _that I have trapped here! No buts, the Despair most people here produce is all second rate and not as good as before, meaning I will gladly do anything to make it as good as first one! Also just because the game reset doesn't mean my power has! I resurrected all the dead as you can see… I wonder what more I can do! Ooooh I can't wait! Now if you don't mind me, I've got some lethal weapons to plant, people to trigger and a letter to forge! Just to speed things up, after all they would have done it anyway given enough time! But before that we still need an interview to do! Each theatre will talk to newly departed if there is one and also an agent of Future Foundation. So here we have it, behold the amazing detective, Kyoko Kirigiri!_

 _"Sooo Kirigiri, are you enjoying the show?"_

 _"How did you do this Junko? Hinata and the others all pressed both buttons and activated the shutdown sequence."_

 _"Well that's because you three made a_ _ **fatal**_ _mistake when you all entered here. And that's Monokuma to you!"_

 _"You hacked into Future Foundation didn't you?"_

 _"Upupupupu, maybe I did! When you three saps entered this world I gained access directly to the Future Foundation database."_

 _"Somehow you managed to override the system and force a restart, while doing that you also hacked into the database and retrieved the consciousness of the two new students. You plan to bring despair once again to everyone and force them to click 'graduate' to bring your Junko land a reality."_

 _"Are you suuuure? Then again you always were the smart one Kirigiri."_

 _"Which is exactly why you didn't wipe my memory and put me as a part of the killing game, you didn't want me to solve the cases too easily."_

 _"Hey! I thought you were on interview not me!"_

 _"You didn't do the same to Naegi either because he is the Ultimate Hope and would help everyone turn against you. As for Togami it would cause a lot of issue with the imposter. So for now you've trapped me in this Funhouse, away from the other two so that we can't talk and devise a plan of defeating you."_

 _"Well this certainly was an interesting episode of 'Kirigiri explains it all' but for now this interview is over. Next time we'll talk to either Naegi or Togami. Kirigiri you want to bet on who kills first?"_

 _"No. Everyone at Future Foundation should have written down everything I just said."_

 _"Upupupupu... it doesn't matter! I have even more hostages this time! Including your Ultimate Hope! Not that it matters..."_

* * *

My eyes opened… dammit! I'm still here on this island… with everyone else! I rubbed my eyes before getting out of bed, of course I only got a few hours of sleep last night but sleep deprivation never got in my way. I got up, stretched my arms and legs…

I really wished this was all just a hallucination. That isn't the case though so I head into the shower… hold on. There are cameras in here… nope! I must have missed that before but there is no way I'm letting this happen, I turn back to my bed, grab my pillow case, take it off and place it on the camera. There you go, I'm not destroying the camera after all. Now that my privacy was in check, I grab a town and head for the shower.

Now I feel a lot better, I exit the shower in my towel to meet the last thing I was hoping to see.

"Monokuma appears! Kettei! What are you doing up sooo early?" Monokuma asked.

"AGHHH!" I instantly shouted, unable to hide my surprise and horror.

"Now, now. I didn't come to look at your scrawny body."

"H-How did you get in here!? I locked the door!"

"I don't use doors, anyway what are you doing up!? The morning announcement hasn't even gone off!" Monokuma yelled.

"I wake up early, that's just who I am. What is it like 6:30am?"

"Well since your up sooo early does that mean you're planning to murder someone?"

"What?! No! No one is going to kill anyone! Including me!"

"Oh really? What if I show you… * **this***!" Monokuma announced before pulling a piece of paper out of nowhere. The first words I read are 'Medical Report – Kettei Tsuki' that's all I needed to see before I grabbed the paper out of his paws.

"Wh-Wh-Where did you get this!?" I asked, my voice was filled with worry and fear. Dammit! How does he know!?

"Puhuhu, consider this a welcoming gift… and a small punishment for covering your camera! I've updated the rules regarded that sooo you better do something! See ya!" And with those spine shivering words he left…

I look back at the old medical report… no! I left this life behind, I crunched it up… but I can't dispose of it. I can't litter and leaving it my bin is too risky… I can't take any chances that someone will see it, I left this life behind for good! I walk to my sink… I can't put it down the drain, that would be littering, kinda. How can I get rid of this permanently…? I can't dump it in the ocean either… Shit! I turn the tap on…

 **Squeak**

I run the paper under water, then take it out just before it falls apart. I turn the tap off and look at the paper, it's still legible, barely. But I can't take the risk… I hate myself for having to do this but… what must be done must be done. I put the paper in my mouth and start chewing… it was horrible. I start to gag… but I have to go through with this. I stay determined and keep chewing, slowly the paper turns into small pieces of mush… by all means I should have coughed it out but I won't let that happen. Paper does not taste good at all… but after a while I stomach it down. Gross. Monokuma… I shouldn't underestimate him. But for now I need to eat some real food to forget this happened. I remove my pillowcase from the camera before heading over to the hotel restaurant…

* * *

"Hajime! Wake up!" Monokuma shouted.

"AHH! Wh-Wh-What the hell!?" I shouted back as I jumped out of bed.

"I have a new task for you Hajime!"

"What are you talking about? Why are you in here?"

"Maaaan this gets old fast! Look this time I want you to find a secret DVD that is located on each island, they are very important to the story so you better find them!"

"…" I'm speechless.

"Anyway get going, by waking you up early certain events should change! The butterfly effect and that boring stuff! Now wake up! Two boys are already at the restaurant. Ok see ya!" Monokuma said before leaving… what the hell was that about?!

...

...

I'm sooo confused.

* * *

Not to my surprise, no one else is here. Food is already perfectly laid out, ready for serving… I could still feel the taste of paper in my mouth. But I wasn't mentally prepared to consider who or what was behind the food… or whether it was safe. My encounter with Monokuma had shaken me…. I had to calm down before people saw me and got suspicious. I make a tea and grab some food before sitting down, trying to forget. I need to get off this island… just like Sato said before, I have family to see… but I can't kill someone for that. But really… I have to get away from Monokuma!

"Goooood morning everyone! Today is going to be another…" The Monokuma on the monitor says. So this is the morning announcement… I don't even bother listening to it. I just put my head in my hands at my dread of Monokuma knowing my past.

"Ah, hello Tsuki." I hear a voice, instantly I hide my own despair and put on a smile before lifting my head.

"Morning Komaeda." I respond.

"Are you ok? You didn't look too good when I entered." Komaeda said.

"Ha… I had an encounter with Monokuma. I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you mind if I join you?" Komaeda asked.

"Of course not." I responded. I envied how optimistic he was… even in such a situation like this. As Komaeda sits downs someone else joins us… Togami and Hinata.

"Hmph, you two appear to be early." Togami said.

"Morning to you too Togami and Hinata. How come you two are up?" Komaeda asked.

"Because I woke up, what other reason could I possibly have?" Togami retorted.

"I didn't sleep well… and Monokuma came to my room." Hinata admitted, clearly I wasn't the only one who had the luxury.

"I'm dreadfully sorry, he also visited me before. Take a seat and eat the pain away." I advised.

"Is the food safe?" Togami questioned.

"I've eaten a plate of it so yeah." I answered.

"That was quite stupid of you, it could have been poisoned." Togami said rudely. So much for thinking that in a serious scenario like this people would cease such acts that get others to dislike them… * **sigh*** …

"Well I'm alive… so it's safe." I respond. Hinata took my earlier advice and hesitantly took some food. Togami also started filling his plate.

"…" Awkward silence filled the air. I guess no one had anything to say in a situation like this. There was also the miniscule chance that someone was going to kill someone right here, I doubt it though. Even if you were desperate to get off the islands, you wouldn't kill someone right here. Hinata just stared at his food, I assume he was unsure whether it was really safe. Hmm… I have a topic of discussion, but it isn't much better then silence.

"Hey Hinata, I never explained my talent to you." I said.

"No… you didn't." Hinata responded.

"I may as well show you, it's nothing crazy… just a bit odd. Komaeda try to hold my tea, it's hot though so be careful." I asked, Komaeda seemed like a nice guy so I felt bad for asking him.

"Sure… ow! It's really hot!" He said… as expected he retracted his hand instantly.

"Hehe, well my talent lets me overcome barriers like that." I then look at my tea, it was still boiling hot and thus so, the mug was too hot to hold. I grab it with my hand and lift in the air without flinching.

"Mainly the physical pain barrier." I clarified, Hinata looked at me with worry while Komaeda had morbid interest. I placed the tea back down.

"Of course that comes with the cost of injuring my own body. In essence my determination lets me control my body and overcome this sort of pain. Creepy isn't it?" I explained, in fact it goes a lot worse than that. I could have poured the tea on my skin and kept my cool but that was definitely going too far without a proper reason. No doubt I'd scare everyone here as well and risk my sanity. I turn to the sink a run my hand under water to avoid any one degree burns.

* * *

"Hey! Get back here!" I shouted at Soda.

"N-No way! I'm outta here!" He screeched back.

"Where do you intend to run?" I heard Sato say as she approached me.

"Anywhere but here! I ain't dealing with all this!" Soda shouted before literally running away.

"Koizumi, what is his problem?" Sato asked to me.

"I don't know, I just came out my cottage and he was panicking out here alone. I tried getting his attention but he just kept shrieking like an idiot."

"Well, it's been a while since the morning announcement. I saw a few others head to the hotel restaurant so we should as well." Sato said.

"What about Soda? If everyone else is gathering there then we're probably going to need him as well. Not that someone like him would contribute much."

"You're right, it's time to hunt then. Would you like to join me? This shouldn't take too long." Sato offered.

"What do you mean by hunt?" I asked in concern.

"Nothing bloody I assure you, but if he gets scared in the process then it's his own fault for running away, right?"

"Right!" I agreed, Sato had the right attitude. We head out to see where Soda ran off to.

"There!" Sato pointed into the distance.

"Where? I don't see him."

"By the farm, his hair sticks out." Sato said. Of course the Ultimate Archer would be able to see that far. I quickly head over there, I need to teach Soda a lesson for just running of like that.

"Soda! Get back here!" I shouted at him, we're just outside the airport.

"Why are you following me?! I'm gonna die!" Soda shrieked before running off, he's quick.

"Stop running you coward!" I shouted but I don't know if he even heard me.

 **Phoot  
** The sound of the wind being pierced shot through the air.

"WAAAAAAAAGH!" Soda screamed even louder, I turn my attention to him to see that he's been pinned to wall by an arrow that clipped the back of his jumpsuit and buried itself into the fence by him.

"Wow!" I couldn't help but be surprised… I look at Sato who was putting her bow away. She gave me a smirk as response.

"D-D-Don't kill me!" Soda begged, he tried remove the arrow but couldn't pull it out. I walk over to him and give him a piece of my mind.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? How are we going to get through this if you just run away? Man up a bit!"

"I almost died! Sato could have killed me!" Soda said in response.

"I wasn't aiming at you, only your clothes. Now come back with us peacefully." Sato ordered.

"No way! You shot an arrow at me!" Soda denied.

"Ah, well this is going to be more difficult than I thought. Ideas Koizumi?"

"I'll just drag him back, that was a nice shot by the way." I compliment.

"Thank you, now we should depart. The others must be waiting for us." Sato said. I approach Soda and he ducks in terror. I try to pull out the arrow of the fence but its pretty deep in.

"Allow me." Sato said before grabbing hold the shaft of the arrow before pulling it out in one swift action. Soda instantly made a dash for it but I grabbed his collar and started pulling him back.

"C'mon… don't humiliate me like this." Soda said.

"Don't run off like a baby then!" I say back, still dragging him across the floor. If he had a shred of sense, he would actually pick himself up.

"Ngghhrwah." Soda made an incomprehensible sound before shutting up.

"Hey Sato, were you not worried about hitting Soda?" I asked, it seemed like a risky thing to do.

"I was, but it is pretty unlikely I would hit him. We were close quarters and I've never missed a shot by more than a millimetre that close before." Sato replied.

"Wow… how much do you practise?"

"Every morning at dawn, except for today. I found it hard to sleep last night so I woke up late." Sato admitted.

"Yeah me too, this situation is hard to bear." I replied.

"Which is why we need to stick together, isn't that right Soda?" Sato said.

"Nghhh." He groaned back.

"I suppose Soda gave you no choice, having him run around would be trouble." I said.

"Hey! I'm not a child!" Soda moaned from behind.

"Then how about you grab a pair and pick yourself up?! You _are_ a boy, right?" I said before tugging his collar. Sato then opened the door to the hotel restaurant for me.

"Thank you." I said.

"Are you going to stand up now Soda, being dragged up the stairs would hurt." Sato asked.

"Nanami help me!" Soda begged but she looked like she was too busy with the arcade machine to notice. "NANAMI I'M GOING TO DIE!" He suddenly shouted… that got her attention.

" ***Yaaawn*** … what's happening?" Nanami asked before looking at Soda on the floor, then me grabbing him, then at Sato. "You shouldn't be shooting friends Sato."

"How did you figure that out?" Sato asked.

"Soda has a whole in his shirt and you're holding an arrow in your hand. Since it isn't in your quiver I thought you might have used it." Nanami explained.

"This is your excuse for being the last to arrive?" Togami said from the stairs, he must have come to see what Soda was screaming about.

"Soda tried to make a run for it so we caught him and brought him here." I explained, Togami better not have gotten the wrong idea.

"Ok everyone back upstairs, I have something important to discuss." Togami ordered. We headed up there to notice everyone else was already there and a large amount of food had been laid out.

"Now that you're on your feet how about you straighten up more! You should be embarrassed!" I inform to Soda.

"St-Stop pulling, I've already got a hole in my shirt… I don't need my sleeves ripped." He responded in fear, jeez he isn't on trial.

"Kyahaha! You're just a big coward!" Saionji mocked at him. "Be careful, people like you are usually the first vic-" But she was interrupted by a series of loud noises.

 **CRASH CLATTER**

"KYAAAAH!" Tsumiki cried.

I turned to see what it was all about, Tsumiki had started to fall with her legs tied by some sort of cable but she was caught by someone.

"Woooah! Watch out there Tsumiki." Tsuki said after catching by her back. He then pushed her up straight.

"What sort of tripping was that?" Hinata asked.

"Indeed, if you had actually fallen you would have ended up in a… compromising position." Togami said.

"What a wasted opportunity." Hanamura moaned immaturely.

"Hey! Cut that out!" I shouted to him.

"I-I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I didn't mean to fall!" Tsumiki cried.

"How exactly did you end up getting wires tied up around your legs?" Togami questioned.

"That was like a magic trick, you're beyond clumsy Tsumiki." I said.

"Well it was lucky Tsuki caught you." Komaeda mentioned.

"It was nothing, I just saw her starting to fall and stopped it. I've er, had experience with that sort of stuff. Hehe." Tsuki said.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?!" Soda questioned.

"None of your business." Tsuki replied sternly.

"Anyway now that that's resolved we should get going." Nanami said, smartly moving the topic on and away from the incident. "Since… I'm getting sleepy."

"Yes, you all can eat breakfast after this talk." Togami said. "I already mentioned before both of you arrived that we need a disciplined leader. I have accepted that role."

"Wait just a second! You didn't even leave it to discussion!" I interrupted.

"Who else but me? Look at my title."

"Seriously! You're being too forceful!"

"Mahiru please! We already discussed this while you and Sato were out and we agreed to it already." Komaeda said.

"Well, I suppose if everyone's ok with it." I conceded.

"Don't worry, as long as I'm the leader nothing bad will happen. First act as leader is to host a party tonight at the abandon building that Komaeda suggested." Togami said.

"Woooo! A party! This is going to be sweet." Mioda cheered.

"What is the occasion?" Pekoyama asked.

"To wipe the idea of murder from your minds." Togami said rudely. "If we are to find a way to beat Monokuma and escape this island we need to get to know each other, which is why I have proposed a party. Attendance is compulsory by everyone."

"I'll do the cooking!" Hanamura announced.

"Tch, I ain't coming." Kuzuryū said.

"You have to." Togami replied sternly.

"Hey! Listen up!" That annoying squeaky voice said through the monitor. "Everyone head over to the park! No exceptions otherwise its punishment!"

"Hmph, it appears we must finish this talk early. But before that we need to designated cleaner for the old building." Togami said.

"Actually I have an idea." Komaeda said as he showed us some straws. "I thought something like this would come up so I made these. We can make the choice randomly by who picks the shortest."

"Good thinking." I praised. Komaeda was one the few boys on this island that seemed normal.

"Everyone take a straw." Togami said and we all did. Once we all showed our straws the results were…

...

"Me?!" Komaeda gasped at having the shortest straw.

"Well for the Ultimate Lucky student you're not very lucky right now are you?" Hinata laughed.

"Wait are we just going to leave all the cleaning duties to one person? That's a bit much don't you think?" Tsuki said.

"Are you offering?" Togami asked.

"Honestly I don't mind." Tsuki replied. "If we're having this party tonight then I don't mind helping to get it ready on time." That was surprisingly responsible for a boy to say.

"A-Are you sure? I can do it by myself." Komaeda questioned.

"Yeah I am."

"Good now we should get moving." Togami said. "Everyone meet at the park! Dismissed."

* * *

"Hey! What took you sooo long?!" Monokuma said as we arrived at the park.

"You should know, are you not watching those cameras?" Togami asked.

"Puhuhu, maybe I am. Anyway onto the Minigame!"

"Minigame? Another minigame?" I, Hinata, questioned.

"Well that's what the rules say, so you can blame Monomi for that. It was her rule." Monokuma said.

"Uwah! Don't blame me! You don't have the right to do that!" Monomi said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Sh-She's alive!" Mioda gasped.

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard this all before! Monomi is like me and has spares, deal with it!" Monokuma shouted. "Anyway onto the **Monokuma Minigame**. Time to play the **Shooting Minigame**!" But before anyone could comment a large amount of sand whipped up.

"Kyah! Is this a sandstorm?" Sonia asked.

"Miss Sonia cover your eyes!" Soda shouted.

"A powerful summoner has casted his dark magic! This must be a durude mage." Tanaka said.

"How can you keep up that dumb blabbering in a storm like this!" Saionji hissed.

"A durude mage casting a sandstorm? Ibuki has heard of something like that before!" Mioda shouted.

"Well that's beca-" Komaeda started to say but his voice suddenly cut off. As the storm dropped I saw I was trapped inside a curved room with see through walls. On my left was Nanami and on my right was Sonia. Each room appeared to be fit with speakers and of course Monokuma's voice came through.

"Monokuma Minigame number one, known as the **Shooting Game!** Right now you are all in a donut shaped building split into 18 rooms. Each room is equipped with a gun pointing to the room on your left, but don't worry they aren't going to kill your friend! Each gun is aimed at **a photo of your classmate's home** **at the current moment in time** , you have two buttons to click, **'Fire'** and **'SD'** , standing for Self-Destruct. If you choose to fire and destroy your friends photo, then you get to see your photo. But remember you could still get shot from the person behind you and lose the photo regardless of what you picked. If you choose SD then your gun explodes into ashes, taking your photo with it… that's it! After everyone has picked- WHAT? It appears someone has already chosen an option so everyone else get going! Also if I spot anyone making hand signals or something like that you will be _punished!_ "

I take a moment to think everything through about what Monokuma said. I lay out every potential option.

1\. I click 'Fire' and I get shot. Then I lose my picture and destroy Nanami's picture.

2\. I click 'Fire' and I don't get shot. Then I get my picture and destroy Nanami's picture.

3\. I click 'SD' and I get shot. Then I lose my picture but Nanami has the chance of getting hers depending on whether _she_ shot.

4\. I click 'SD' and I don't get shot. Same thing, I lose my picture but Nanami has the chance of getting hers depending on whether _she_ shot.

In each scenario I don't have anything to personally lose from clicking fire and something to gain. But I don't want to destroy someone else's picture for the chance to get mine. But is Nanami really the kind of person to shoot someone else to see her picture? I got an odd feeling about her… this is hard. But… I'm not going to destroy someone else's picture for my own. I take a look around to see who is aiming at who. Hajime(Me) Chiaki Nekomaru Hiyoko Teruteru Peko Togami Akane Fuyuhiko Ibuki Kazuichi Sato Gundham Mikan Ket Mahiru Nagito Sonia and back to me. We're all in one giant circle. I look down at my buttons and press one.

"Results are in! Let's see the results! Are you ready for the results?!" Monokuma said repeatedly before the walls around us started to sink back into the grounds but he kept talking.

"Seven bullets were fired but only four pictures were saved! Congratulations to Hiyoko, Akane, Gundham and Sonia for heartlessly destroying your opponents picture to get your own! I'll see ya all later, try not to kill each other until then… oh wait! Do try your best!" And with that he left... the last of the walls came down and we all looked at each other, clearly unsure what the bizarre game was all about. But what really mattered was that I was shot… by Sonia. I saw the ashes of my photo fall to the floor, I know I clicked SD so it would have been gone anyway but… it still hurts knowing that she had shot my photo.

* * *

"Hey Hinata… you didn't shoot me." Nanami said as she approached me.

"No… it didn't feel right." I responded.

"Hmm… was that the right decision?" She said more to herself then to me.

"Well you didn't shoot did you?"

"No… but…" I didn't hear what she said after that, if she did say anything. I looked back around to see who had shoot who. It looked like Hanamura had shot Pekoyama but he didn't get a picture because Saionji shot him.

"Are you trying to say something Hanamura?" Pekoyama asked coldly.

"N-N-Nonono! You see I just wanted to see h-how my diner was doing!"

"Kyahaha! Well now you can't cuz I shot you!" Saionji mocked.

Next was Owari who shot Kuzuryū who shot Mioda who shot Soda… and Kuzuryū seemed pretty mad.

"What the hell did you shoot me for!?" He roared.

"Well cuz I wanted to see my bros and sisters back home." Owari responded.

"Hey you hypocrite! You shot Ibuki you know?" Soda retorted.

"That's because I can! I'll easily choose any option that benefits me." Kuzuryū said back.

"Ibuki shot Kazuichi because he looks funny!" Mioda stated.

"That's hurts you know…" Soda pouted.

Gundham had shot Mikan…

"Your sacrifice shall be written in blood Tsumiki!" Tanaka announced.

"U-Um… I hope you didn't mind shooting me! I don't mind being shot!" She responded. That wasn't heated at all.

"Hajime! I must applaud your choice." Sonia said as she, Koizumi and Tsuki approached me and Nanami.

"But… you shot me." I replied.

"Yes well I thought it through... and in a game like this there are only a few options in which something is gained." Sonia explained. "By having you in front of me and Komaeda behind me I was confident that decent gentlemen like you two would not fire so by pressing fire I was able to gain something."

"That was very smart of you Sonia, I wouldn't have thought of it like that." Koizumi praised.

"It was anything special." Komaeda said.

"That was a weird minigame wasn't it?" I said.

"It was, the rules do specify it has to be a 'trust' minigame." Tsuki replied. "Monokuma tried to pin us against each other but it didn't work on us in particular."

"I guess some of you guys are responsible. Hinata didn't shoot Nanami, Komaeda didn't shoot Sonia and Tsuki didn't shoot me." Koizumi said.

"I didn't really mind losing the reward, after all I saw my family two days ago." Tsuki said.

"I don't like how Monokuma is trying to use a game to pin us against each other." Nanami mentioned.

"Regardless, would you all like to see a picture of my castle? I haven't looked at it yet." Sonia said before showing her photo. It was covered and waiting to be revealed. We gathered around her as she pulled off the cover…

 _"Kyah!"  
"What the?!"  
"Huh!?"_

The photo showed an old castle that was broken beyond belief, as if it had taken part in a war. There were no signs of life and the market stalls around it were all emptied and semi destroyed.

"H-How could this happen!?" Sonia gasped.

"That's your castle?" Komaeda asked in shock.

"No! Well… the structure is the same but I am sure it was not in this condition when I left it a month ago." Sonia replied.

"It's one of Monokuma's traps." Togami said out loud. I looked around and everyone else had shocked faces, their photos must have contained something bad.

"Monokuma is trying to pin us all against each other." Togami explained. "Just so you all know there was no right or wrong answer is that minigame. It was simply a way for Monokuma to try and build distrust among us. All the photos contain a destroyed scene of something we once knew, I shouldn't have to say this but they are clearly fake."

"How can you be so sure?" Soda asked.

"Because these feats are impossible. We all arrived on this island yesterday, on that morning we all left our homes. Are you telling me our houses were destroyed in that short amount of time?" Togami said.

"That does seem impossible, but wouldn't it explain we haven't been rescued?" Pekoyama mentioned.

"We will discuss such scenarios at the party. For now, it is of the upmost importance we don't fall prey to Monokuma's plans. Komaeda and Tsuki, you both have a job to do Until then you are all on **Free Time** , dismissed." Togami said, causing everyone to depart.

* * *

 **Free Time will consist of conversations between different, but not all, characters. This doesn't just include people talking to Hajime, the others will talk to each other as well. But Hajime will get unique events that aren't copy pasted from the game. Just because two characters are talking doesn't mean they're definitely being shipped together, they could be spending time as friends. Also there will be variation, just because Hajime isn't spending time with Nagito this time doesn't mean he won't later. I plan for a lot characters to talk to others at least once and then there will be one person they spend more time with for things to get deeper. Free Time events may or may not relate to the story line. Whenever there is free time I will list who is talking to who beforehand and in order.  
Hajime & Chiaki | Nagito & Kettei | Byakuya & Ibuki** **| Mahiru & Sonia & Sato.**

* * *

"Nanami do you want to hang out?" Hinata said as he approached me. I finished my game before looking up.

"Sure Hinata, where do you want to go?" I asked. I should be nice to him… he decided not to shoot me in the minigame so that makes him a nice person… probably.

"Can we walk around the park? There's something I need to ask you."

"Sure, but can we make it short? I still need to get some sleep before the party."

"Yeah." Hinata agreed, we exited the hotel and started walking.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"Have we… met before?"

"Huh…? No I don't think so."

"I know this sounds weird… but you sound familiar." Hinata said.

"No… I've never met you before." I said more confidently. This is the first time I've existed I'm pretty sure… this world is my birthplace. It's impossible for me to have met anyone before… probably.

"Ok… I've just been having this weird feeling."

"Weird feeling? That might be something important." I said.

"What do you mean?"

"When a game character usually has a feeling it usually foreshadows something in the future."

"Nanami… I'm not a game character."

"Well maybe there isn't as much of a difference as you think?" I managed to hint, maybe he doesn't understand what I mean. Maybe he isn't like me… he probably is a real human. But why did he say I looked familiar?

"I… feel like I've heard something like that before. But I don't remember." Hinata said.

"Maybe this has something to do with you forgetting your talent?" I suggest.

"Yeah… I feel like I'm really close to figuring it out now."

"Hmm… well if I'm familiar to you then maybe I remind you of someone you forgot? If we talk more it might help you remember."

"Yeah, I feel like this is helping. Thanks a lot Chia- ah, I mean Nanami."

"No problem. Was there… ***Yaaawn*** anything else you want to talk about?"

"Well I found this DVD today… do you know where I can play it?" Hinata said as he showed me a plain disc with a white cover.

"I can try play it on one of my consoles… where did you find it?"

"It was just hiding somewhere, it probably isn't anything special because Monokuma wanted me to find it."

"Well how about we check it out first?" I advised before we headed over to my cottage. I put the disc in a console and we both eagerly look at the screen. First it shows some text.

 _'Chihiro Fujisaki's free time with Makoto Naegi.' A non-fictional story recorded and stolen by Monokuma._

It's a short video showing two short boys talking about each other. One of them has hair like Hinata while the other looks really nervous. They talk about a mosquito bite for a while until they part ways.

"That was weird… why would Monokuma show us something like?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know… it might have some sort of relevance though."

"Why do you think that?"

"They said they were looking for a secret passageway… hmm…"

"…"

"Hmm…"

"So you have no idea?"

"No…* **Yaaawn*** " But one of them looked familiar to me, I wonder...

"Well I'll tell you if I find anymore. I'll leave you to sleep before the party. Bye." Hinata said before leaving.

"See ya."

* * *

I grab a broom and keep dusting the floor, this room went from pretty old and dirty to almost clean. That's all it is for now, a room, but soon, tonight to be exact, it will be a place of where hope first nourishes. Here on this island, there are 17 amazing Ultimates, all full of hope, and I have the honour to be in their presence! But to bolster their hope, to improve it, to empower it into Absolute Hope I need to start the killings. My plan has already gone into effect and I've tricked Monokuma into helping me as well. I got him to deliver a note to Togami suggesting that someone was going to die tonight, and he's throwing a party to try and stop it. I have a plan to get someone killed… maybe I will get killed! A sacrifice I'm willing to make.

"Hey Komaeda, I brought the carpet." Tsuki said as he dragged the carpet into the large room of the abandoned building.

"Wow, that thing is huge. How did you manage to bring it all the way here from the market?"

"It wasn't that hard." He replied. "By the way did you rig the straws Komaeda?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Well you just happen to bring them and it picked you, isn't that odd?"

"It is but I didn't physically rig it." I said, it was true.

"Ok then, it doesn't really matter. You want to roll out the carpet now? You've cleaned this room pretty well."

"I can do this is all by myself you know, I got picked fair and square." I said, so it wasn't really fair but that doesn't matter. With Tsuki around its going to be harder to plant the knife.

"Well now that I've seen how dirty the other rooms are you're going to need me here to clean. Anyway I don't really mind, it's nice to talk to you." He replied… nice to talk to me? An Ultimate is showing genuine interest in trash like me… I never expected such a thing. As always Ultimates go beyond my expectations, but that's all the more reason I need to do this.

"What's nice about talking to me?"

"Well… you're really optimistic. Even in a situation like this somehow you're still optimistic."

"I don't deserve your words of praise."

"What? Are you embarrassed?" Tsuki joked.

"Of course not."

"Well then let's unroll the carpet… 3, 2, 1, go!" He said and we did just that.

"Good job buddy. Tsuki praised.

"Buddy? It was nothing."

"Haha, whatever you say. Ok what else do we need to do?"

"Bring the tables from the storage room." I said, Tsuki nodded his head and we made our way over there.

"Woah, this place is not good for anyone's health." Tsuki said.

"It is pretty dusty, but I don't think we need to clean this place, it hasn't gotten any use." I mentioned.

"I guess. Ok let's grab the table then." He said.

"Alright, by the way Tsuki. How did you discover your talent?"

"Hmm, well ever since I was young I've always got done what I really needed to do… no matter what."

"That's pretty vague." I said.

"Well… I guess I can tell you this Komaeda. There's more to my talent then I say… but I can't talk about it right now." Tsuki said uncomfortably.

"Huh? How come?"

"People would… misjudge me. Especially in a situation like this… but considering most people here are trying to work together I might speak the truth later. But I fear that..." Tsuki trailed off. He's hiding something… something big… but also full of Despair. Hmmm, I wonder what that means…?

"Well everyone here is full of Hope, I'm sure they'll accept you for who you really are." I said.

"You're pretty cheesy Komaeda but… thanks. Call me Kettei."

"Huh? Really? Someone like me can use that name?"

"It's just a name Nagito, you alright with that?"

"Of course." I replied… after talking to Kettei I realised that Ultimates do harbour Despair as well as Hope. But if I can get them to overcome that Despair… then the world will be one step closer to Absolute Hope. Although now that I've made a friend I kind of Hope Kettei isn't the one to die first… by my hand or another's… what am I talking about!? Someone like me isn't allowed to hope for anything! Tonight there will be a murder, and I will make sure it happens.

* * *

Ibuki is walking… Ibuki is looking for someone special! Right now Ibuki is like monologue…ing, to herself!

"Helloooo Byakuya!"

"What?! Oh, it's you Mioda." Byakuya said as he turned around with a choppy face.

"That's Ibuki to me and to you."

"Of course, you insist on a first name basis. Now _why_ are you talking to me?"

"Because Ibuki wanted to talk to you."

"Why one earth would you want to talk to me? What have I done to make you want that?"

"Ibuki thinks that you are a co-ool leader!"

"I haven't done anything as a leader yet, what could you possible like about me?" Byakuya said, Ibuki thinks he is getting annoyed but Ibuki doesn't care.

"You give super-duper speeches."

"Are you saying that you look up to me because of the words I say?"

"Yup!"

"Illogical, you shouldn't make your decisions like that. You could be easily manipulated by those smarter than you."

"What?"

"* **Sigh*** I'm saying someone could easily trick you."

"But why would someone do that?"

"Because there are some harsh people in this world who do cruel things."

"Like who?" Ibuki asked.

"Hmm, humour me Ibuki. What if I told you Byakuya Togami was one of those people?"

"Well now Byakuya is lying to Ibuki. Ibuki doesn't think you are one of those people."

"How do you know? You've never met Byakuya Togami before."

"But Ibuki has now, and Ibuki can say for sure that Byakuya is _not_ one of those meanies."

"What if I promised to you that Byakuya Togami is one of those people? Now what would you say?"

"Well… I dunno. That's a hard question for Ibuki."

"Heh, let us continue this charade then Ibuki. What if I told you the reason I was not a mean person was because I am not Byakuya Togami? Then what?"

"Whaaat? But you look like a Byakuya Togami!"

"Hmph, indeed I do. But just because I look like someone doesn't make me them."

"Sooo… what is Byakuya trying to tell me?"

"What if I said… you were Byakuya Togami?"

"WHAT?! I'm the mean old Byakuya Togami?!"

"Heh, this was more enjoyable then I thought Ibuki. Someone like you would never realise the true extent of what we just discussed, but if you did then I would have never discussed it with you."

"Errrrrrm… what?"

"As expected you don't realise what I'm talking about, but know this. I'll consider hinting to one of the more deductable ones about this. Goodbye Ibuki, I have duties to perform before the party." And with that Byakuya left Ibuki alone… Ibuki is really confused.

* * *

"Sonia! Can I talk to you?" Koizumi called as she walked towards me. I was enjoying a walk along the island but company is always nice. Koizumi came up and walked with me.

"Ah, Koizumi. What brings you here?"

"I was thinking maybe you should become the group leader."

"No, perish the thought. I am merely a figure head."

"But still, I think you should give it a go Sonia."

"I am sorry but I think Togami is a lot more qualified. Although he is forceful those are the qualities that are needed to lead a large group such as ours."

"I guess… well I won't push you if you don't want to."

 **Phoot.  
** A piercing sound shot through the air. I looked ahead to see an arrow had buried itself in a palm tree.

"Oh my, that was rather sudden." I said.

"Well there's only one person who could have done this." Koizumi said as we both saw Sato approach us in her elegant dress, like a true Japanese woman in the novels I read.

"Hello Sonia and Koizumi, how are you two faring?" She asked.

"I'm still worried about that picture, but I do believe it is just a concoction that Monokuma has pulled over us." I replied.

"We shouldn't listen to what he has to say." Sato agreed for grabbing her arrow from the palm tree and removing it with a strong but elegant pull.

"Would it be ok if I looked at that arrow Sato?" I asked, she nodded her head and handed it to me. I looked at it in amazement.

"Wow, is this a genuine 'Ya' arrow? It must be! It has a bamboo shaft and hawk feathers!" I huff in excitement.

"You're very knowledgeable Sonia. It is indeed, I received them from my mother after I won my first competition. I've kept them since then, reusing them once fired." Sato replied.

"I didn't even know that Sonia… that's impressive." Koizumi stated to my surprise.

"What? You don't even know your own countries culture?" I asked.

"Well... it isn't exactly modern day culture." Koizumi said.

"But still, I thought this was all common knowledge."

"It isn't." Sato said. "My family is quite traditional which is why I know this but it isn't part of the educational system, if that is what you were wondering."

"I see… I must say that is a disappointment." I admitted.

"Ah… sorry we don't meet your standards." Koizumi said nervously.

"No, don't apologize. This must be what is known as a culture shock." I said to comfort them. I shouldn't have set my standards so high. I fear I may have hurt my new friends.

"I have a solution." Sato offered. "Everyone here is an Ultimate, meaning they should have high amounts of knowledge on their talent like I do with archery. You could talk to those with more traditional talents if you're interested in old Japanese culture."

"Like Saionji and Pekoyama!" Koizumi finished off. "I know, I'll arrange a tea party sometime after tonight's party for all the girls to get to know each other."

"That's sound like a wonderful idea Koizumi." I replied. "Perhaps we can start using first names as well afterwards. Of course I understand that I am a foreigner and am not giving such rights with my own name." I reminded, hearing others call me 'Nevermind' would be quite odd.

"On that note, I would be honoured for you both to call me Akiko." Sato, or now Akiko to me, said.

"Yes, please call me Mahiru as well. If things keep going this way, we'll be off this island soon!" Mahiru announced positively. I'm am very glad to have made two good friends.

* * *

 **Bing Bong, Ding Dong.**

"Hey everyone it's _almost_ night time. I want you all to head over to the park on the double, chop chop now! It's about those pictures I gave some of you." Monokuma announced through the monitor… that damn bear! I slowly make my way over…

"Hinata, you heard that too right?" I turned around to see Tsuki running over to me.

"Yeah… I have a bad feeling about this." I replied.

"I know what you mean but at least we have the party after… as long he doesn't interfere."

"What are the chances he doesn't?" I said.

"Well…" Tsuki started to say but didn't finish it at all, as we got to the park I noticed most of the others had already arrived.

"Where is Komaeda?" Togami asked.

"He's making a last minute check-up, once he's done he'll bring Hanamura here." Tsuki replied. We waited a few moments and they both arrived.

"Alright let's get this over with." Monokuma said in a depressed manner.

Monokuma spent the time explaining that we all had our memories erased from Hopes Peak Academy by Monomi and that her organization, known as **World Ender** , was the one who brought us to this island. We were all shocked at the news and denied it.

"That's impossible!" Tsuki said.

"But… does that mean those photos were of our houses after two years?! Wh-Wh-What happened!?" Soda said.

"The world ended… as the bear declared." Tanaka answered to our horror. The world had been destroyed… that was impossible. But then Monokuma mentioned something else…

"But there's something else as well! There are **traitors** among you!"

"Traitors?!" Nidai gasped.

"M-Multiple traitors?" I gasped as well.

"Yup!" Monokuma confirmed. "There are two traitors among you, that work for World Ender and both of them are _killers!_ "

"K-Killers? No waaaaay!" Soda screeched.

"I don't believe that! It's a lie!" Hanamura denied.

"Preposterous! Do not believe such a thing." Togami said.

"Ohohoho! But it's true isn't it Monomi?" Monokuma asked.

"W-Well… what are you saying? Don't listen to him!" Monomi said as some sort of reply.

"Oh but you _know_ it's true! Each traitor has a kill count of at least one so together they are killers!"

"But that's enough for now, it's about to be night time so get outta my sight!" Monokuma said before disappearing with Monomi. That was a lot to take in…

"Attention students, it is now 10pm…" The night time announcement rang through but I barely heard it, we were all staring at each other with accusative glares.

"Show yourself traitors!" Nidai shouted.

"What are you, stupid? Of course they aren't going to show their ugly faces." Saionji said.

"Then I'll beat 'em until they admit it!" Owari threatened.

"Hold it!" Sonia said. "We cannot believe Monokuma's lies, he is trying to pin us against each other. I do not believe there are any traitors among us."

"Yeah, now is not the time to doubt each other." Komaeda added on but it didn't have much effect, everyone was shocked at the news.

"A-Are we going to cancel the party?" Tsumiki asked.

"No!" Togami replied instantly. "As I said before, all Monokuma is doing is trying to pin us against each other. By introducing these ideas of the world ending, our memories erased and there being traitors he is trying to increase the likelihood of a killing. Now everyone head over to the party venue, for tonight we will feast and overcome Monokuma's fake motives." The speech seemed to have invigorated some hope into everyone as we all headed over to the once abandoned building… and then I saw it, for a split second I saw something.

An image of Togami dead under a table…

* * *

 **Reviews on what you like or don't like or just general comments are always appreciated! I tried to tick some main boxes with this fanfic.**

 **· Old characters presented well.**

 **· New characters are interested but not whoring attention. (This may have failed with one character :P)**

 **· The overall plot line is interesting and new(ish)**

 **· It has that Dangan Ronpa feel to it.**

 **I'd like to remind any readers from my previous fanfic, (thanks a lot for sticking with me btw) that these stories will take place in alternate realities and thus the history behind my own characters are liable to change but they should still the essence of who they are. Thanks for reading as always!**


	3. Chapter 2 - Triple Tiplets

Chapter 2 – Triple Triplets  
Triple the murder, Triple the fun, Triple the suspects.

* * *

"Hanamura, get over to the old building quickly." Togami commanded. It was my mouth that said those words but that was not my voice. Everyone else sees me as Byakuya Togami but **I** am not really Byakuya Togami, as such **I** will refer to actions with his name. Unless an action performed is completely and utterly of my own free will and has nothing to do with Byakuya Togami, then **I** will use words such as ' **I** '. But in reality there is little ' **I** ' or me that exists… right now **I** am impersonating Byakuya Togami of how he would act **if** his goals were to get everyone off this island. Whether that is **my** own desires I am still unsure. Or whether I really have desires of **my** own.

"B-But what ab-" Hanamura tried to say but Togami interrupted him.

"Make up your uneducated mind. Are you now claiming that you believe Monokuma?" Togami said. Of course Togami considered what Monokuma said and the possibility, it was all certainly possible. Unlikely… but it would explain issues such as how we got to this island. But what mattered now was keeping everyone together to remove the stupid idea of killing. It should be obvious that committing a murder and getting away with it is beyond their capabilities. No one will be able to escape like that… except Byakuya Togami. But **I** will not let that happen.

"N-No, of course not." Hanamura responded, trying to deceive himself. He does it decently well.

"Well then you have a large amount of dishes to serve. That is the only thing you're useful for."

"Of course, my food will bring the sexy back to this island."

"Hmph, I care not for your perverted reasons but get the job done." Togami ordered, his food will bring spirit back to the group. It would be a lie to say **I** wasn't looking forward to it, of course that it is not something Byakuya Togami would ever admit. Eventually we arrived at the old building entrance where Togami left two locked duralumin cases. They keys were safely in my pockets.

"Hanamura stand still with your arms out." Togami said.

"Ohoho, is this why you wanted me to get here early? So we can some sweeeeet time to touch each other?" Hanamura said as **I** quickly patted him down.

"You're clear, now get back to the kitchen and finish off your cooking." Togami ordered before pushing him off.

"It is now 10pm…" I heard the Monokuma night time announcement say, the others should be here soon. Komaeda arrives, **I** search him and he is clean.

"It's good your taking such precautions Togami." Komaeda commented.

"It is my job, now carry on." Togami said. Considering how willing Komaeda was to clean the building was slightly suspicious, Byakuya Togami would have thought it was because he knows his place. **I** however think he more reason… But **I** would have to study him more first, something was indeed suspicious about him.

Next came Tsuki who had the same results, no dangerous objects.

"That was um… weird." He said.

"Carry on." Byakuya Togami ordered and Tsuki listened. Odd boy, he is hiding something and does it well to the others. Of course no one can hide something that big from **me** , but it doesn't seem to be something of relevance for now. More importantly is why he offered to help clean this building even though he wasn't picked. I will have to keep my eye on him.

Sato walked in next. After reluctantly allowing me to body search her we deal the issue at hand.

"The arrows will have to go and you will need to unsling the bow." Togami ordered.

"That is quite the demanding offer." Sato said bitterly.

"Do you have any conditions then?" Togami asked.

"I get to keep a single arrow."

"Preposterous, then what was the point in me taking anything?" Togami said.

"It's incredibly rude to demand all of this Togami, I don't appreciate it." Sato warned, this was going to be rather difficult, she would just leave if Togami asked for too much. An exception can be made but then Togami must warn her on the implications, as long as everyone knows that the idea of murder is stupid then nothing bad will happen.

"Hmm, I suppose a singular arrow that is kept in your quiver can be arranged. But if any incident occurs I will need to see its condition."

"Are you say-" Sato started to say but I interrupted her.

"It will help prove your innocence if it hasn't been used. Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be."

"I don't like this, how do I know you aren't tricking me?" Sato said suspiciously.

"You have the honour of the Togami household." Togami said.

"That is enough for me… for now." Sato replied as she handed me the string from her bow and all her arrows par one. The words 'honour' echoed through my mind, in reality **I** had no right to use that word. But then again Byakuya Togami does, and right now, on this island, **I** am indeed Byakuya Togami, and Byakuya Togami has every right.

Afterwards came Sonia and Koizumi.

"Arms out, I need to body check you both." Togami said.

"Hey! You do know that she _is_ a princess!?" Koizumi interfered.

"It is quite alright Mahiru, I have never been body checked before. I am very excited!" Sonia said to both our worry, but **I** hid mine. She raised her arms and **I** did a quick check, as expected, nothing.

"Head to the large room ahead and wait for the others to arrive." Togami said to Sonia, causing her to leave. As expected then she is oblivious to various seemingly normal things to commoners but she has inner strength.

"Arms up Koizumi."

"Hm!" She made a that pissed off girl noise that **I** could never perfectly imitate, perhaps **I** need to be one first.

"How heavy is that camera?" I asked.

"Not heavy enough to kill someone!" She said, which I believed.

"Clear, now move on."

"Hold on Togami! I want you to know that just because you're the leader doesn't mean you can treat us the way you want." Koizumi said… I was at a standstill. Byakuya Togami would have claimed he does have such right and will treat any of them the way he wants, **I** however, would claim it is in their best interests to avoid any killings. Perhaps **I** should _hint_ to her.

"Very well, if anything bad happens that I overlook then I shall reconsider my role as leader." **I** said to her surprise.

"O-Oh, ok then." She said before leaving me. She seems to have important morals and follows them through, yet she succumbs to peer pressure as **I** saw before. She has the talents to be a leader but not the self-confidence. As expected **my** hint to her goes unquestioned.

Soda arrived afterwards and searched him to his reluctance.

"What is this?" Togami asked.

"Agh! W-Watch where you're putting your hand!"

"A wrench!" Togami said before pulling it out.

"Well yeah… I'm a mechanic, is that so weird?" Soda said as an excuse.

"Yes, an item like this is dangerous. Why were you trying to conceal!?"

"C-Conceal it? No, I was just carrying it around."

"In your pants?" Togami specified.

"Y-Yeah!" Soda replied… this wasn't out of miss-intent, just idiocy. Togami confiscated the wrench and locked it away.

"Hey I wasn't going to do anyt-" Soda tried to say but Togami interrupted with a harsh gaze and harsher voice.

"Get going, now!" Togami shouted before shoving Soda off.

Afterwards Saionji, Tsumiki and Nidai arrived in that order. No problems with the first two.

"I'm confiscating the chain around your neck." Togami said.

"But this chain is my pride and joy." Nidai argued.

"It is dangerous, give it to me. Now!" Togami said more aggressively causing Nidai to give in.

"Alright, but I expect it to be returned after." Nidai said leaving. I unlocked one of the cases, placed the chain inside then re-locked it.

"Yo, hurry up and search me Togami." Owari said as she entered, clearly she witnessed the previous event. I searched her quickly and she was clean.

"Just like bein' back at home." She commented before leaving. That implied a multitude of things, only a few of them had **me** worried though.

Next was Mioda, to Byakuya Togami. To **me** she is Ibuki. As expected, she was clear of anything. Following her was Pekoyama, who was clear of anything except for one problematic object.

"Kuzuryū will not be attending, I saw him walk off into the opposite direction." She informed me.

"I will deal with that later, for now that bamboo sword is a danger." Togami stated.

"I have no intention of using it." Pekoyama replied.

"I only have your word for that." Togami said. "But you aren't willing to leave it behind are you?" **I** asked.

"The way you phrased that makes it sound like you have already thought of a solution." She replied.

"Indeed, let me hold it." Togami ordered, Pekoyama listened reluctantly. The sword was sitting inside a finely made sword bag, I tied the top end of it shut in a special knot.

"This knot cannot be undone by anyone but me, bring it back to me after the party and I will undo it. If I find it has been forced open and there is an accident of some sorts you will be placed under suspicion. Am I clear?" Togami said.

"Yes."

"I am also aware that a weapon like that is lethal, even in its bag. However, I will inform you now that blood would stain the material quite permanently." Togami warned.

"Are you implying that I would-" Pekoyama tried to say but Togami didn't let her.

"No, merely making sure that stupid idea of murder is wiped from everyone's mind. Do not take it personally."

"Hm, is that all?" She asked.

"Yes, you may go now." I said and she did. Surprising she didn't fight back, **I** would have if Byakuya Togami said that to me. But perhaps since she didn't, that tells **me** something about her… but **I** can't be sure for now. Next came Nanami who almost fell asleep during the body search, which gave **me** the same concern as I did with Owari. Byakuya Togami still didn't care.

After this came Tanaka who made things more difficult.

"Do not touch me mortal, for you will wither and die before your finger even reach me!" Tanaka warned, **I** know the basis on how people like him think and work. Time for another hint, **I** raise the tone of a different voice, the voice of someone else, and speak back.

"I am immune to such trifling magic for I am the reincarnation of darkness." Kyouma said back. Tanaka looked at me in aghast and **I** used that moment to quickly body check him.

"Gah! You have destroyed my magic barrier! What sort of sorcerer are you?" He questioned, **I** may have gone too far.

"I am the mad scientist Hououin Kyouma! But this body is no longer worthy of my presence. I shall leave this mere mortal back to it, perhaps he has survived."

"Wh-What!? Do not try to layer me with false knowledge!"

"Do not speak a word of my presence or we shall never duel! Until we meet again Tanaka!" Kyouma announced before I switched voices back to Byakuya Togami.

"Hm? Did you say something Tanaka?"

"…" He looked at me in shock.

"Is there are problem? I agreed not to search you." Togami said, in reality Byakuya Togami did not search him. Hououin Kyouma did.

"Ah… you are lucky to be alive mortal, cherish your life for San-D foresees _your inevitable death_!" Tanaka said before leaving. The encounter reminded me how much **I** missed impersonating others who talk like Tanaka, perhaps if we get off this island I can do that once again.

Hmph, here **I** am fantasizing about spending time with people Byakuya Togami has just met under different names. But that has proven to me that **I** , whoever **I** really am, enjoys spending time with others. All it took was a life or death situation like this. Now there are still two people to show up, one of them I don't expect to.

Hinata then came into my sights. He was certainly an interesting one to the trained eye. At first he appears to be the most normal one here, likely because he is. But that specifically makes him unique, when trapped on an island with 17 other Ultimates the one who isn't becomes the special one. Of course we don't know his talent and thus I can't judge him, there are various explanations for this.

"Arms up Hinata, I need to perform a body search."

"O-Oh, ok." Hinata responded, almost as if he was expecting Togami to say that. _Almost._ As **I** thought he had nothing on him.

"Make your way to the large room ahead, you are the last expected to arrive." Togami said. As expected he enquired about the duralumin boxes, he is more observant then the others, likely because he is still worried about the situation we're in. **I** suppose I'll give him a _large_ hint later, not that it matters. Unless you get the full explanation a hint will never be enough for people to understand **my** being.

A lot of the people here to indeed rival Byakuya Togami in how interesting they are. Once we're off this island **I** will have been able to know them all well enough to add to my roster of people to impersonate. That's why I'm currently out of character, while Byakuya Togami would see this situation we're in as just a 'game' to win, **I** look at the bigger picture. **My** whole life is just a game, switching between who **I** want and when **I** want and it is taking an interesting turn, instead of taking the easy way and perform a murder like Byakuya Togami would, **I** will take the hard way and beat Monokuma learn the truth of what has really happened. If the world has really been destroyed, then **I** need to find out who the traitor to impersonate then. **I** need to remind myself of something, **I** don't look down on everyone, after not having a real life **I** know the importance of everyone having a life here. **I** will keep them all alive, **I** will learn from each of them, **I** will discover their true natures and after all that and when we escape this island, **I** will go back to the shadows of impersonation.

* * *

After quickly looking at the office and kitchen, I opened the doors to the large room that the party was being held in, what I saw was not what I thought it would be like. This room was… miraculously clean. More so then I had expected, the walls were sparkly clean and even decorated with generic paint portraits. Inside the room was a few tables with large amounts of food on them. The floor was covered with a large carpet that covered most… no wait, it covers _all_ of the floor. The windows were covered with metal, there was also an air-conditioner, a few plant pots and a lamp near the back. Almost everyone was here, aside from Kuzuryū and Togami.

"Hey Hinata, how'd you like it?" Komaeda asked me.

"It's pretty well done." I admitted… this room looked astounding.

"Well I wouldn't have been able to clean it to these standards without the help from Kettei." Komaeda said.

"Haha, it was nothing, more of a duo effort." Tsuki added on.

"Well I must admit you two did a pretty good job, this place looks amazing!" Koizumi praised.

"Where did you get the carpet from?" Nanami asked.

"From the supermarket." Tsuki answered. "Monomi showed me one with a specific size, as if it was made to fit this room and I brought here."

"Wait you carried that thing here by yourself?" I said in shock.

"I did, my talent lets me do stuff like that." Tsuki said… that didn't really make much sense. This talent of his was suspicious.

"Huh? A tiny guy like you managed to move this massive carpet?" Owari questioned.

"Haha, I guess it must be unbelievable for you guys, but you can ask Nagito or Hinata. They saw the basis of my talent." Tsuki explained, seemingly uncomfortable at the attention he was getting.

"I'll vouch for him, he cleaned this place pretty quickly and well despite his stature, more than I ever could." Komaeda said.

"Hey, you helped as well remember?" Tsuki reminded.

"Yeah but without an actual talent I couldn't do much compared to you."

"Well I relied on my talent to get this done, you genuinely worked hard Nagito."

"No, no! You've got it all wrong Kettei! It's because you work hard you have a talent like the Ultimate Determined!"

"Uh… they became pretty good friends didn't they?" Koizumi mentioned.

"Ugh, I feel like I'm going to be sick from listening to them two." Saionji said.

"Hey, you got room for a third wheel?" Hanamura asked… well actually it sounded more like he was begging.

The party hadn't even started and things already seemed to be going smoothly. When Togami came in we discussed a few issues and how to resolve them. Pekoyama offered to guard a duralumin box in the office while Nanami guards the entrance and tries to get information out of Monomi. We then had a dilemma where Togami eat a large amount of food before getting annoyed at the irons skewers that were used… iron skewers… iron… skewers. He later dragged me to the kitchen.

* * *

We spent some time getting rid of 'dangerous objects' such as kitchen knives. Togami then speaks to me on his past, that his sceptical nature has caused his life to be a living hell. He seems to have gone through a lot…

"That is all, now let us return to the party." Togami said before heading to the door.

"HOLD IT!" I suddenly blurted out without much reason.

"What is it?" Togami asked.

"We didn't check… um… the meat on the bone." I said.

"Hmm? The meat on the bone? It's uncooked and not ready to be served." Togami examined.

"E-Exactly! D-Don't touch it! If you want to touch something cold, I'm sure I can supply." Hanamura said in defence of his meat.

"We didn't check it out… the meat on the bone I mean." I said... although I didn't really know why.

"I suppose, move aside Hanamura." Togami ordered.

"B-But you're going to soil the meat… if you want to soil something please just ask." Hanamura said but Togami just walked _over_ him to the meat.

"Why are you acting… don't tell me you did something to the meat?!" Togami deduced, Hanamura tried to stand in the way but Togami shoved him aside before holding the meat up.

"What the!?" Togami suddenly before pulling out part of the bone… attached to it was an **iron skewer.**

"I-It's not what it looks like!" Hanamura said in defence.

"Why… I can't believe you!" Togami shouted before grabbing Hanamura and dragging him out of the kitchen. I quickly followed him to the large room where everyone had gathered.

"Everyone listen up!" Togami shouted over the noise of everyone talking. He lifted Hanamura with one hand and the iron skewer with another. "This is why you do not attempt a murder like Hanamura has!"

 _"_ _What?"  
"R-Really?!"  
"Why you!"_

"I set up this party to tell you all of something." Togami announced. "To catch someone who was intending to kill. I want you all to know that the idea of _murder_ is way out of your control! Do not think for a second that you can attempt a murder and get away with it!"

Everyone looked in shock at Hanamura and the disguised murder weapon, someone had literally made preparations for murder.

"I didn't mean tooooooooooo! Waaaah!" Hanamura had suddenly started screaming and sobbing.

"You didn't mean to?" Sato questioned, her voice had turned harsh. "The Iron Skewer has been deliberately masked to hide its true purpose. You clearly meant to!"

"N-N-NO! You don't understand… I um, er, it was, ah, um." Slowly Hanamura's words could barely be described as words.

"We'll listen you out later." Togami said.

"Is the food safe?" Koizumi asked in concern.

"I already tried it so it should be but I don't recommend you eat anymore."

"Well I already ate some and I feel fine so I'm just going to keep eating." Owari said before grabbing some food but Togami grabbed it from her hand.

"I said no… hold on. Where is Nidai!?" Togami asked.

"He went to the toilet." Komaeda answered.

"Hmph, I will gather him, Nanami and Pekoyama. Now that I caught the killer we have less to worry about, I still need to remind you all the futile idea of murder." Togami said. "Someone restrain this moron while I collect them."

"I will." Sato offered before grabbing Hanamura as if he was a toy. Togami then left the room… all eyes turned to Hanamura.

"How could you!?" Koizumi shouted at him.

"It wa' ma' faul'" Hanamura said as some sort of reply.

"Hey you can't just change your accent like that!" Soda said.

"I'll make him talk." Sato said as she dragged Hanamura to the wall before grabbing a single arrow from her quiver. She raised his collar and stabbed and arrow into it, pinning him to the wall, hanging for everyone to show. It wasn't enough to choke him but it must have hurt.

"I-Isn't that a bit harsh?" Koizumi asked.

"No way! This trash just tried to kill one of us!" Saionji retorted.

"Maybe we should ask him why?" I said but before anyone could respond…

 **Beep**

The lights went out and the room went completely **pitch black**. Nothing was visible at all. Everyone started to panic and shout at once.

 _"_ _Who turned the lights off?" A worried voice.  
"I-I can't see!" Another worried voice.  
"E-Everyone stay calm." A nervous voice.  
"Stop moving and calm down!" An annoyed voice.  
"Ughhh!" A pained voice.  
"Arghh!" A shocked voice.  
"Can someone let me down!?"_

 **BANG  
** A harsh loud noise thundered through the room. It sounded like something large had fallen over. It was met with collective cries of shock and surprise but about a split second later…

 **CRAAAAAAAAAAAASH  
** Then an even larger noise hit my eardrums, just saying it was louder was an understatement. The noise devoured every other sound so that only it could be heard. It sounded like an avalanche of wood falling. I also felt the carpet slip under my feet… and then…

 **Click**

The lights came back on, temporarily blinding me. Once my eyes adjusted I quickly scanned the room, everyone had a look shock mixed with fear. Tsumiki was also on the floor but there was something a lot more disturbing… a large hole in the corner of the room near me. I quickly looked inside, right there I saw a black haired boy and white haired boy on the floor. Pink blood had splattered all around them… Komaeda and Tsuki… _were dead._

No, they weren't dead, that was an overreaction. No… it was arguably better than that but not that much better. They were struggling over a knife, wrestling to out match each other and grab it. And then they stopped, their eyes widened as they noticed _who_ they were fighting.

"N-N-Nagito?" Tsuki stuttered. He pushed him away and backed off himself to the wooden pile of the floor and ripped carpet that used to be there.

"What is going on here?!" Togami shouted as he charged in the room, Pekoyama behind him, he took a look at Tsumiki on the floor, then at everyone else, then at me and the hole in the floor before running over at surprising speed. He took a look at Komaeda and Tsuki, both of them covered in blood and cuts with a knife in between them on the floor.

"What happened here!?" Togami roared, causing everyone to come over and see the scene before us.

"I was attacked in the dark… and started fighting back blindly." Tsuki said in defence.

"Huh? _I_ was attacked!" Komaeda argued.

"What?!" Tsuki said in shock.

"Both of you get up here." Togami ordered. Tsuki was the first to listen, despite the large cut from his arm he walked up the debris of wood and jumped up to grab the floor we were on before pulling himself up. I could see Tsuki had a nasty gash on his right arm, with blood staining his once blue jacket into a much pinker one. Apart from his dirty bloody clothes he had bruises on the front of his face and a cut lip. Komaeda on the other hand was less swift and couldn't lift himself up the gap from under the floorboards and the actual floor we were on.

"Errr, some help?" Komaeda asked and Togami begrudgingly put out his hand lifted Komaeda out. Komaeda looked in better condition but his clothes were also stained by dust and partly bloodied.

"What the fuck happened to you two?" Kuzuryū asked. Wait… Kuzuryū?

"Kuzuryū? When did you get here?" I asked.

"I brought him here." Nanami said. "He came by to ask why I was at the door alone, we talked and he agreed to join us with the party."

"Not because I care about you all! I was just curious on what you were doing. Clearly not so well, Hanamura over there is being hanged and you two look like you were in a cage fight." Kuzuryū said.

"What exactly happened?" Togami questioned.

"I don't know." Tsuki replied. "I was stabbed in the arm when the lights went out-"

"Upupupu!" That dreadful voice said before appearing in the room. "While I _hate_ failed murders I need to inform you all… isn't someone missing? Puhu…"

"Missing? Ibuki sees everyone here!" Mioda said but I saw differently, and so did Togami. There were the original party members here, Hanamura was pinned to the wall and Pekoyama had joined us with Togami after the blackout. Nanami and Kuzuryū came after that but someone had still to turn up.

"Nidai! Is he seriously still in the toilet?" Togami grumbled. "Pekoyama, I want you to restrain Komaeda, Hinata you restrain Tsuki and Sato take Hanamura off the damn wall and restrain him."

"R-Restrain? Is that really necessary?" Komaeda questioned but Pekoyama had already grabbed his arms.

"Probably, we both look like we tried to kill each other." Tsuki said to mine and others surprise. I noticed Sato had already restrained Hanamura… why did _I_ have to restrain someone?! I walked awkwardly to Tsuki, he was injured! Surely I didn't need to restrain him… No, I had to. A murder was just an attempted, and its likely him or Komaeda who had done it.

"Hold on a moment." Tsuki said before grabbing a table cloth from the floor, he then bit the edge with his teeth.

 **Riiip**

Part of the cloth ripped off and Tsuki tied it around his bleeding arm expertly.

"Y-You're going to need something more to cover that." Tsumiki said in a worried manner.

"That can wait, we need to find Nidai and make sure he's ok." Tsuki said dismissively.

"H-He isn't dead is he?" Soda asked out loud, a cold shiver went down my spine. _Dead?_ Could he really be dead? Two attempted murders… and a death? No… that was too much.

"Let us get a move on." Togami said before heading out, slowly everyone followed him with a worried look. Leaving me and Tsuki behind.

"Erm Hinata, are you going to grab my arms or something?" Tsuki asked expectantly.

"Y-You're bleeding from the cut… I don't want to hurt you." I said.

"Wow… I misjudged you Hinata. Sorry." Tsuki apologized. "Even though I look like I may have just tried to murder Nagito you don't want to hurt me. Anyway don't worry about me, my talent lets me ignore stuff like this. And if you don't restrain me I might look suspicious, so please…" Tsuki said before walked in front of me with his hands behind his back. "Do it."

I grabbed his arms gently, trying to avoid the bloody parts. His logic was strange… did he not mind the pain or could he not feel it? What _is_ this talent of his… it doesn't make any sense. Does he really want me to restrain him? No… we had more important matters, we had to make sure Nidai was ok. The way Monokuma spoke about him…

We headed over to the corridor where everyone had gathered.

 **Bang, Bang**

"Coach Nekomaru! Open up!" Owari shouted as she pounded on the toiler door.

"I'll lock pick it, just give me a mo-" Togami tried to say but Owari was fired up.

"There's no time for that! Something happened to the old man!" Owari roared before lifting her leg and…

 **BAAAAANG**

She kicked the door off its hinges and slowly it began to creak… it slowly started to fall down… revealing what inside. My blood went cold, no… this wasn't possible. I stopped an attempted murder… it shouldn't have gone like this! Why… right there, sitting on the toilet with his face tilted up and his eyes lifeless… was Nekomaru Nidai. The Ultimate team manager.

"A body has been discovered!" The body announcement started to play… even though I had never heard it before I felt like the words it contained would roll off my tongue.

"N-Nekomaru!" Owari shouted before grabbing Nidai's shirt with one hand and the other she…

* **Slap***

…slapped Nida's cheek.

"Wake up!" She shouted.

"Is he… really dead?" Pekoyama questioned. Togami then walked up to Nidai and put his fingers to Nidai's neck.

"No pulse, he's dead." Togami commented

"No he isn't!" Owari shouted. "WAKE UP!"

"L-Let him be…" Koizumi said before togging slightly on Owari's shirt. She turned around with eyes full of rage and Koizumi back up.

"Who did it?!" Owari shouted at us all, we were all in shock. Two attempted murders and an actual death. Me and most others couldn't even muster a word, even Togami hadn't expected this.

"Calm down… we need to think this through rationally." Nanami said but Owari ignored her and turned the three most suspicious ones. Hanamura who had hidden that weapon, then there was both Komaeda and Tsuki who had each other's blood on them. Of course your first thoughts would be them but there had to be more to it… but Owari's thought process never got that far.

"One of you admit to it! NOW!" Owari threatened.

"Shouting isn't going to get anywhere." Sato said as she regained her composure.

"Indeed, we must perform a thorough investigation." Togami added on.

"Who cares? One of you three killed coach Nekomaru!" Owari shouted… She was overcome with rage and couldn't be reasoned with.

"Well if you aren't going to admit to it then I'm goin' to force ya! YAARGH!" Owari suddenly let out a battle cry and raised her fist. She was quicker than anyone had anticipated, she turned to Komaeda and let her fist fly. I was in such surprise I didn't realise that my grip had let go.

 **THUMP THUD**

Her fist met flesh and two bodies went flying, one fell straight back while the other went sideways into the wall.

"Wh-What the?" Owari said in shock. Just before her fist connected to Komaeda Tsuki had pushed him out the way, taking the punch for him. And now he lay on the floor while Komaeda looked surprised as he leaned upon the wall.

"Did he really just push Komaeda out of the way?" Pekoyama asked in slight surprise but Tsuki was lying on the floor.

"I-I'll make sure he's ok, he might be unconscious after an impact like that." Tsumiki said worryingly before kneeling next to him but Tsuki's hand pushed down on the floor as he lifted himself up shakily.

"Ha… ha… you're going to have try harder than that… if you want to hurt my friend!" Tsuki said as he pointed a finger at Owari.

"Th-That's insane!" Soda said.

"Did you just try to kill him? Or him trying to kill you?" Kuzuryū asked him.

"I-I'm sure… there's a perfectly good explanation." Tsuki said, we all looked at him in surprise. "Anyway don't you all have an investigation to perform?" Tsuki said to avert everyone's gaze. A person had just been murdered.

"Exactly!" Monokuma agreed as he appeared. "Now after that vomit worthy display of magical rainbow friendship you all have a crime to investigate." Monokuma then went on to explain that we had a class trial to take part after an amount of time, which he didn't specify, had passed. Before that we all need to get investigating for our _lives_. He then told us that our E-Handbooks had details about victim, their name, time of death, location of death, cause of death and any other information. Of course most of us couldn't really believe it at first… investigating a murder of our classmate… _done_ by our classmate. As Monokuma just stood there while the rest of the room went into a state in disbelief. People didn't want to take part in this madness, this Killing Game from hell. Nanami and Sato had tried to calm everyone down but it they were outmatched by the noise. Constant denial, shouting, pleads to go home…

"SILENCE!" Togami roared over everyone else. "You can all cry and ball over Nidai's death after the trial, for now our lives are on the line so we must investigate. Is that clear?"

We all looked to our oversized leader, he was making sense even if he said it harshly. Slowly we all nodded our heads and agreed.

"Good." Togami said, sort of satisfied. "We obviously have three suspects but this does not mean that are definitely the murderer. Tsumiki I want you to treat both Tsuki and Komaeda for their wounds, the more blood they drop the harder this is. Sato and Pekoyama, I want you to watch over them in case of any other fighting." Both Tsuki and Komaeda stayed silent at this.

"Agreed." Pekoyama said.

"Fine with me." Sato said.

"There was a first aid kit at the hotel restaurant, go take them over there. The rest of us will investigate." Togami ordered before Sato grabbed Komaeda rather roughly while Pekoyama put her hand over Tsuki's arm in a soft but firm manner. The group of five, including Tsumiki, left the building.

"As for the rest of you, I will pair you up to investigate." Togami said.

"Pair up?" I questioned.

"This is to avoid the murderer destroying any evidence, by having someone around them this will become very difficult and risky." Togami explained.

"And what if the conspirer had a familiar to assist them?" Tanaka asked.

"Nope! No way! Not at all!" Monokuma announced as he appeared again. "No familiar, no accomplice, no help this time! After all, only one person can get off this island alive."

"How can we believe you? You must have murdered her!" Soda accused.

"Like the words of Monomi, 'that's a _big_ nono!' One of you bits of boloney killed her." Monokuma said. "Now get investigating before times runs out! No more hints from me! But just so you know, after a body discovery announcement, no one is allowed to kill anyone until the trial or they end up dead! So you're all safe until then…" And with that he left.

"Everyone pair up and get investigating. I'll watch over Hanamura and interrogate him later." Togami said.

"I-Interrogate?" Hanamura gasped.

"Get going." Togami ordered…

Pair up and investigate a murder? Are we even qualified to do such a thing?

"Hajime are you going to investigate?" Nanami… or I guess Chiaki asked me.

"Oh… yeah I am."

"Do you want to pair up?" She asked me. I looked around to see that a lot of people had already paired up and gone off, probably wager to get away from the dead body. Unless I wanted to get Soda or Kuzuryū, I should accept.

"Sure, are you going to be ok investigating?"

"Yeah… I've played a lot of detective games." She said… I hope she wasn't treating this like a game. But for now I had to focus on the investigation, the lives of all of us hang on this.

* * *

 **Investigation Start**

 **Case 1  
P.O.V: Hajime Hinata  
Assistant: Chiaki Nanami  
Victim: Nekomaru Nidai**

 **FYI: The investigation and trial will stick to one P.O.V and thus that person will be innocent. But the investigator will change for each murder so the difference between how people investigate can be seen. Assistants will generally just give small comments on evidence and points of interest. Truth bullets will automatically update without notification… depending on the investigator.**

* * *

"Ok I'll start with Monokuma File then." I said before looking at it.

 _Monokuma File #4019  
Name: Nekomaru Nida_

 _Time of death: Around 11:30pm.  
Location of Death: The toilet room in the abandoned building._

 _Cause of Death: Poisoning due to a liquid substance known as 'Monoquinine' causing paralysis to the nervous system. The victim died within 15minutes of indigestion of a small amount of poison that was contained within a food object._

 _General Information: Nekomaru died before he got to take his pants off and take a precious shit, such Despair! Upupupupu!_

"Unbelievable." I said out loud after reading it through. Even in the Monokuma File he was unbearable.

"Hmm, do you know what Monoquinine is?" Nanami asked.

"Some sort of poison but I've never heard of it before. Maybe we should ask Tsumiki later. But first we need to investigate… Nidai's body." I said. In response Chiaki just silently nodded her head.

 **Truth Bullet  
Monokuma File**

* * *

 **Location: Unisex bathroom**

I look at the scene in detail, the door lay on the floor inside the room. Kicked off its hinges by Owari. Sitting on the toilet was Nidai, like you normally would but he was slightly slumped… because he was dead. He had food stains on his shirt while lay on the floor. Apart from that there wasn't too much here. I started off with the body… there was Nidai's lifeless body. I strengthened my resolve and patted down his clothes for anything of value.

"Nothing." I said. No clue or anything like they do in the movies, no mysterious note pointing to the killer. Gah, what was I hoping for? I turned my attention to the stain on his shirt, it was a brown meaty stain from the food, still fresh. The cause of the stain was on the floor, it appeared to be a generic chicken leg you see in cartoons.

 **Truth Bullet  
Nekomaru's body state**

"Is there something wrong with the chicken?" Chiaki asked me.

"I think so, but I'm worried about getting poisoned. This thing could have been it right? The 'murder weapon'."

"Don't worry about that!" Monokuma shouted from behind my back. "In the rare case of poisoning, after the murder has been performed I will deactivate any forms of poison."

"What does that mean?" I asked. Deactivate?

"It means anything poisonous won't kill you unless you eat it!" Monokuma informed before disappearing again.

"I think it's safe… just be careful." Chiaki told me. Slowly I grabbed the bone of the chicken and lifted it up.

"Chiaki look, there aren't any bites on it."

"Yeah, and there isn't any sauce on it either." She replied. So… this can't be the murder weapon then?

 **Truth Bullet  
Uneaten chicken leg**

I put the meat back on the floor and then head out…

"Hajime wait, maybe there's something with the door?" Chiaki told me. The door…? It was possible, I asked Chiaki to move then lifted it up and placed it against the wall. There was nothing strange about it apart from the fact that the lock had broken.

"So the door was locked which is why Owari kicked it down?" Chiaki asked me.

"Yeah." I confirmed.

 **Truth Bullet  
Locked door**

After the examination I left the room to encounter Kuzuryū and Soda in the hallway.

"Hey Kuzuryū, when did you get here?" I asked.

"What? You suspecting me?" Kuzuryū said.

"No it's just that… you kinda appeared out of nowhere."

"Hey, I can't believe I got pinned with this killer while that creep Tanaka stole Miss Sonia!" Soda commented.

"Peh, I'm used to being untrusted. Well it's like Nanami said, I came by and agreed to join you all in this dumb party." Kuzuryū said. That seemed pretty suspicious, why would suddenly join us now after declaring that he wouldn't? It seemed out of character.

"He's right." Chiaki said. "When we opened the door, the hallway was dark but after a moment the lights switched back. Then we joined everyone else."

"Did anything happen before that?"

"Nothing with me, I saw no one outside." Kuzuryū said.

"I talked to Monomi for a bit until Kuzuryū scared her off." Chiaki said.

So that means both Chiaki and Kuzuryū were outside the old building during the blackout and they entered together as soon as the lights came back on.

 **Truth Bullet  
Fuyuhiko's & Chiaki's account**

"Ok thanks." I said before heading away.

"Hey! Didn't you have anything to ask to me?" Soda asked.

"Well, did you fix the lights Soda?" I asked.

"No… I couldn't find my way around in the black out."

"Anything to comment on?" I asked.

"Well… I didn't see anything bu-" Soda tried to say but Kuzuryū interrupted.

"So you were useless."

"No I wasn't!" Soda argued. Me and Nanami left them to their bickering and headed to the main room where the party had been hosted.

* * *

 **Location: Party Room**

The once clean room was now mostly a mess, mainly because of the hole in the floor at the far back right corner room. A table had fallen down it with part of the carpet that had ripped off. What on earth had happened in here during the blackout? How had the floor collapsed and how did Tsuki and Komaeda end up inside it? Koizumi and Saionji were looking equally confused.

"What a shame, after so much work that was put into making this place look amazing." Koizumi said.

"Yeah, those idiots shouldn't have cleaned so hard if they were just going to get their own blood everywhere." Saionji said.

"Hmm, it _is_ odd isn't it?" Chiaki said, joining in the conversation. "I'm not sure what happened during the blackout because I wasn't here… but it looks like one of them attacked the other."

"But who attacked who?" I asked. "And with what? Togami body checked everyone and the duralumin case should be locked…"

"Does it matter? We need to find out who killed Nidai, not why those two idiots trying to kill each other." Saionji said.

"Puhuhuhu! Yes, it does!" Monokuma said. "In the rare occurrence of an attempted murder that goes wrong, you must figure out how and why. After all the killer put a lot of hard work into it."

"But." I tried to argue but Monokuma wouldn't let me.

"Keep your butts to yourself! I'm not interested in them… also I'm giving you extra time for this so you better solve it! You have to figure out what happened in the dark with Kettei and Nagito, the kitchen with Teruteru and finally poor Nekomaru… Oh boy, that's a lot of work! See ya!" And he left…

"I can't believe it…" Koizumi said slowly. "We had two attempted murders and an actual death… did everyone really want to get out of here? I can't believe Komaeda and Tsuki were laughing together before the blackout and afterwards were fighting to kill each other."

"Well we don't know the intention yet." Chiaki countered. "If one of them were attacked in the dark then it's likely the other was just trying to defend themselves… I think."

 **Truth Bullet  
Murder attempt in the blackout**

"Koizumi, did you happen to take any pictures?" I asked.

"I did, but it was while you and Togami were in the kitchen with Hanamura. And since you all came back after that and showed Hanamura's hidden weapon everyone obviously moved around… Would that be a clue?" She responded.

"We can't be sure… but we should try and gather what we can for now." Chiaki said. "If you show me the photo we can figure out where everyone was at that time."

"Okay, here take a look." Koizumi said and beckoned Nanami to look at her digital camera. I tried to approach but… "Hey go do something useful Hinata!"

"Like what?" I asked.

"You can investigate the hole in the floor, Tsuki or Komaeda may have left something there as well." Chiaki said.

"Saionji can you watch him to make sure he doesn't hide anything?" Koizumi asked.

"If I see you hiding anything then I'll stab you with it!" Saionji threatened.

"I-I wasn't planning of do anything of the sorts." I said in defence… but it was no use. I turned to the hole in the floor, it wasn't too deep, about the height of the floor to my neck. It was big enough so that one of the tables could have fallen down. I carefully let myself down and checked out the wreck. There were pieces of wood from the floorboards strewn across the floor with the table broken over it. Why had the floor collapsed? Was this building not as safe as we thought?

 **Truth Bullet  
Floor collapse**

Splatters of fresh blood was visible on the fallen pieces of wood… _ugh_. Nidai's body didn't have any blood, which is what it had made it hard to believe he was dead. But there was indeed pink blood here, not too much… but still.

 **Truth Bullet  
Fresh blood under floorboards**

I looked at the table, it had split in two from the impact… no, that didn't make sense. It wasn't _that_ weak, it would need more force to break open.

 **Truth Bullet  
Broken Table**

Hmm? There was tape attached under the table in a special greenish colour. It stood out and looked like it had something stuck to it before.

 **Truth Bullet  
Green Tape**

Something else should be here… there it is. The knife I saw both Tsuki and Komaeda fighting over was between them… I had no idea who struck who first. The knife was small but was stained with blood… fresh blood. Probably Tsuki's or Komaeda's. A thought suddenly struck me… I put the knife next to tape… it looked like it would fit perfectly. I'm pretty sure this was attached… meaning that this knife was stuck under the table beforehand. But how did it get here?

 **Truth Bullet  
Bloody Knife**

I turned my attention to my surroundings. There was a tiny gab between the ground and the floorboard, I could walk through here slightly bent over. For some reason the floor had green paint on it, in the shape of a line, leading from somewhere deeper. The paint matched the one on the tape… is this glow in the dark paint? It certainly does that; I can see the green line that travels under the floor clearly, even though it was much darker down there.

"Hey Saionji, there's a green trail down here." I called.

"Ew! I'm not going down there!" She responded.

"Well I want to explore it but you won't be able to see me if I go deeper." I said. Ugh if only I could investigate by myself… this would be a lot easier.

"That is very suspicious." Koizumi said as her and Chiaki's face looked down at me.

"Well can you finish the picture Koizumi? I'll go investigate this with Hajime." Chiaki offered.

" _Hajime,_ huh? Hinata what are you trying to get out of taking Nanami here down a dark place under the floorboards!? I can't believe you!" Koizumi said.

"I didn't mean it like that! Really!" I tried to defend myself but Koizumi's glare didn't avert. I never even suggested it.

"Hm! I'll go down there instead; Nanami can you finish the picture instead?" Koizumi said. Before Chiaki could say anything Koizumi slowly made her way down here. "Don't just stand there! Get moving!" Damn when she's fired up she's completely different.

"Okay I'm going." I said before following the green paint, clearly Koizumi had no intention of staying near the small bits of blood.

"What is this? Why would someone paint a line down here?" Koizumi asked.

"I don't know, but this is too suspicious to have with these murder attempts. It has to be related to one of them at least."

"You don't know? I thought you've been investigating!"

"I have, I've collect a decent amount of evidence." I responded. It got slightly darker as we walked deeper but luckily the small amount of light from the hole in the floor showed us the way… Hmm, now that I think about it, _it would be pitch black without that hole._ The carpet completely covers all the bits of light above… if there wasn't a hole it would be pitch black.

 **Truth Bullet  
Darkness under the floorboards**

"Well, have you figured out who… killed Nidai?" Koizumi asked uncomfortably.

"I… have no idea."

"What!? But what about all that evidence?"

"I have a faint idea about… nothing. I think I have evidence from three different cases… so really I have nothing." I admitted.

"Gah! You're sooo useless!" Koizumi shouted at me. "But I guess this is a lot for amateurs like us… well that rules out you being the Ultimate Detective or something equally smart."

"Hey, I'm trying!" I said in my defence. Eventually we reach the end of the green line, there was a small step ladder here.

"Look at this, doesn't it seem out of place?" Koizumi asked, she was holding a white sheet that was placed on top of the dusty boxes.

"What do you mean?" I asked, there was a bunch of old random stuff here.

"It's not dusty you idiot. Compare it to everything around here and you'll see." Koizumi said, she was right. It stood out, while the white sheet looked like it had a tiny but of dust, the boxes had a thick layer.

"So it was put here recently, this has to be connected." I said.

"Look, someone cut a hole out… doesn't this seem like a head hole and arm holes?" Koizumi said before shoving it at me. "Put it on!"

I complied to her forcefulness and put it on. It looked it like it was made to be put on.

 **Truth Bullet  
White sheet**

"I'll remember that, now where does this lead to?" I asked before walking up and pushing at the part on top. "I think this is a trapdoor or something… but something is on top of it."

"Then push harder!" Koizumi ordered. What am I, a slave? A pushed harder, worried she would shout at me again.

 **Creaaaak**

And then it opened up. "Yeah!" I said in relief before making my way up. "Huh? This is… the storage room!?"

"It is… * **Cough*** god this place is dusty."

"So this leads to the storage room… ok I'm getting something." I looked around, there was a bunch of towels and stuff that fell on the floor, presumably they were on top of the trapdoor. So it was covered.

 **Truth Bullet  
Trapdoor**

 **Truth Bullet  
Green paint**

"Hinata! Look at the white sheets here, they're perfectly folded."

"So why was that other one moved and cut into…?"

After looking around some more I couldn't find anything and decided to leave.

"Wait! I think… I found something." Koizumi said. "Look at the irons… they were switched on recently."

I turned my attention to it and waved my hand near it, it was indeed exuding heat as if it was turned on recently.

"So someone had turned these on… and just left them here until the blackout turned them off." I deduced.

"Yeah but something is strange… there's no water around here." Koizumi said.

"Water? Why would there be water?"

"Jeeez, you've never ironed your clothes before have you Hinata!?"

"No… my mom does it." I admitted. I had never had a problem with that before but when I said it to Koizumi I felt like she was judging me poorly because of it.

"Well when you leave an iron standing up like this it usually leaks water. You would know that if you've ever ironed before! But look around… there is no water." Koizumi lectured.

"And there is no water here or signs of it… hmm…" I tried to think as to what that meant… and I started to 'hm' like Chiaki. Luckily this went unnoticed by Koizumi.

"Well it probably doesn't mean anything…" Koizumi dismissed.

"No it definitely means _something_."

"Are you sure…? I'm not much for thinking about these things…" She said. Was that self-confidence issues? In Koizumi? I would have never noticed that myself if it wasn't for the fact that I was feeling similar since I forgot my talent. It kept gnawing at me, as if I was close to remembering but also distant. I put all the thoughts aside and focused on the investigation.

 **Truth Bullet  
Heated irons**

"Ok let's go, there's still more I need to investigate." I said to distract us both.

"Yeah." She agreed, we headed back over to the party room and exchanged partners and basic information. Chiaki showed me the hand draw picture of everyone position while Togami, I and Hanamura were in the kitchen. Something peaked my interest, both Tsuki and Komaeda were near the table with the lamp on it. They were probably talking, considering how much they were beforehand.

 **Truth Bullet  
Hand drawn picture**

There was still more in this room I had to look at. First though, I had a thought and grabbed the bloody knife I left before, there was something I wanted to check out later. After Chiaki pulled me back up to the floor…

"Hajime, there's a small dent in the wall." She pointed at the wall.

"Yeah, Sato hung Hanamura by an arrow there after we revealed his intentions with the iron skewer." I forgot to write that down… I think Togami still has it.

 **Truth Bullet  
Concealed iron skewer**

"How long was he hung there for?" Chiaki asked me.

"Before the blackout… until after the black out. That doesn't count as an alibi though since this was a poisoning."

"Yeah… but it's an alibi for him during the blackout. I think this shows he wasn't involved in the blackout attack."

"I suppose." I said. How did Sato get this arrow from here?

 **Truth Bullet  
Hung by an arrow**

"Ok that's everything here, we still need to check out the kitchen, office and talk to Komaeda and Tsuki." I said, man there was a lot to do and we didn't know what amount of time we had left.

"What about the air conditioner? I saw Togami looking at it while you were gone."

"The air… OH!" With a sudden epiphany I rushed over to it and remembered the ' **Beep** ' sound before the lights went off. The air-conditioner was set to go off at 11:30, similar to the time of the murder. "Chiaki, there was an air-conditioned in the office, let's check it out." I say before heading there, she was a bit behind me.

* * *

 **Location: Office**

The office contained three important items of objects, the duralumin case that Pekoyama guarded. The AC, similar to the other one. And finally the circuit breaker. Akane and Ibuki were also hanging out here, busy 'investigating'. I checked the AC, as I thought it was set to 11:30… but now what?

"Who and why did this?" Chiaki asked me.

"I don't know."

"Well I think it might have been Tsuki or Komaeda, they were in here the most. We should ask them later."

"Yeah." I agreed.

 **Truth bullet  
AC times**

"Hey Ibuki… do you remember what happened during the blackout?" I asked.

"Ibuki suu-uuure does Hajime! But you're too late! Ibuki has already told Byakuya everything." Mioda responded.

"Can you tell us?" I asked.

"Ok… Ibuki is a pro at this now. A lot of people were talking at the same time but this is what Ibuki heard. Now listen up…"

* * *

 _"_ _Who turned the lights off?" Akane asked.  
"I-I can't see!" Ibuki said cutely.  
"E-Everyone stay calm." Mahiru said.  
"Stop moving and calm down!" Sato commanded.  
"Ugh!" Nagito shouted.  
"Arghh!" Kettei screamed.  
"Can someone let me down!?" Teruteru begged._

 ** _BANG_** _  
Togami figured out this was the table that fell on the floor, but as it did, then the floor began to fall._

 ** _CRAAAAAAAAAASH  
_** _And that was the floor falling and with it fell poor Kettei and Nagito._

* * *

 **Truth Bullet  
Ibuki's account**

"Hmm." Chiaki was in thought.

"I get part of it but…" I had some answers… but not all of them. I really need to get Tsuki's and Komaeda's accounts. "Thank you Ibuki." I then turned my attention to the circuit breaker, it was really high up.

"How did Pekoyama restart the switch?" Chiaki asked.

"Dunno." Owari said. "I was jumpin' up before, trying to reach it but couldn't. Then Togami came in to investigate and he told me that Pekoyama had done it."

"That's right." I realised. "During the blackout, Nidai was supposed to be in the toilet. Chiaki was outside, probably talking to Kuzuryū. Pekoyama was in this room with the circuit breaker. Togami had just left the party room to gather them… "But how did Pekoyama do it?"

"I can show you all!" Monokuma said as he appeared. "All I gotta do is stretch my body and reach for it!"

"Ew, that sounds like, totally gross!" Ibuki said.

"Aww, let me do it this time! I mean I can stretch _suuuper_ far."

"Stop it." I said.

"No! Not this time! Did you know I can even stretch _something_ else... something _special._ I stretch it _suuuuuuper_ far and reach even that circuit breaker with it."

"T-T-That's gross!" Ibuki shouted.

"Comon Hajime, I _know_ you want to see it."

"Go away!" I said to Monokuma.

"Fine! Screw you all!" Monokuma said before disappearing again.

"So we don't know how Pekoyama reached the circuit breaker…" I said sadly.

"She's a ninja!" Owari suddenly shouted. "I just remembered something that had been buggin' me and it was something people with swords can do. They lean their sword against the wall and step on the hilt. Amazing isn't it!?" In fact, I felt like I had heard that before.

"Wow. That's pretty cool." Nanami said with her mild shock. Could Pekoyama had been able to do that in the dark? Well if she was guarding the room, she could have remembered where it was and blindly figured it out. She was a sword master… but I would need to confirm what she did.

 **Truth Bullet  
circuit breaker**

It didn't appear that the duralumin case was here… Togami must have taken it.

"Hey Owari, I need to ask. Did you know Nidai before all this?" Chiaki asked.

"Huh? No I didn't… but you know, I felt like I did. Like I really did know him… but I don't know anymore. My gut is telling me I did but I don't remember at all. But I go with my gut no matter what!"

A familiar feeling… I can't shrug it off. Something bigger is happening here… but I need to keep focused on the investigation. "Thanks… we need to get back to investigating. Chiaki are you alright with us heading to the kitchen?"

"Sure."

* * *

 **Location: Kitchen**

The kitchen… what were we going to find here? Me and Togami had searched through this place pretty well… but what if there was poisoning on the food? We wouldn't have been able to see that at all, but smuggling poison sure would have been difficult with the body search. And where would they have disposed of the vial? You can't litter and there aren't any bins in here. It appeared Sonia and Tanaka was in the room and talking.

"Ah, hello Hinata and Nanami. How is your investigation going?" Sonia greeted.

"Difficult." I said. "We came here to look for any clues…"

"You won't find anything!" Tanaka said. "Me and my maiden of ice here have searched from the depth of pandemonium to the high heavens of which mortal life itself is unable to reach."

"So there is nothing that looks like a glass of poison?" Chiaki asked, clearly we had the same thought.

"I am very sorry, but there is nothing of the sorts. We checked every bottle but it appeared to be just normal condiments." Sonia explained… of course. I knew there was little reason to look here but I may as well find out information that I can get out of these two. I still needed to find out what had Nidai been doing? He had been gone since I got back from the kitchen search with Togami.

 **Truth Bullet  
Kitchen search**

"Do any of you know how Nidai might have gotten poisoned?" I asked.

"Well the Monokuma Files said it was liquid poison… so I was worried it could have been in the drinks we all had." Sonia explained. "But we are all alive so I dismissed that."

"What about food, who ate the food Hanamura cooked?" I asked.

"Togami stuffed his face…" Tanaka said in a disgusted manner.

"I believe Pekoyama took food with her… Owari also ate some of the food. And so did Nidai, he took some food with him to the bathroom… that was everyone who ate the food. It was ashamed to have such nice food go to waste." Sonia said.

 **Truth Bullet  
Food consumption**

"But how was he poisoned then?" I muttered out loud. There was another 15-minute window after eating poisoned food, and the Monokuma File specified it was in some sort of food. What food was here at the party? The food cooked by Hanamura… was it really him though? Had he really planned two different attempts at murder? What about the ability to smuggle food? Could that had happened…? A knife had already been smuggled through… of course I was denying a potential possibility. It _could_ have been Togami, then it would be easy to smuggle a knife and food… but how would he relate to the knife attack between Tsuki and Komaeda? I can't make any theory right now… too many questions for anything. I needed to go to the source of all this. Komaeda and Tsuki, the once friends, the two that had tried to kill each other, Tsuki and Komaeda…

"Hajime we should hurry up. I think we're running out of time." Chiaki reminded me.

"Yeah, let's hurry up." I then turned around and headed for the door but…

"Ah, please wait Hinata." Sonia called. "Did we… ever meet before this?"

"What?" I asked in surprise… this again? What is going on… no I don't have time for this. All of our lives depend on this trial, and I, Hajime Hinata… have no idea on what the hell happened tonight! Dammit! "We gotta go, we can talk about this later Sonia."

* * *

 **Location: Hotel, lower floor  
** We entered the hotel to find Sato clutching Komaeda's shirt and pinning him to the wall.

"Spill it out!" She said to him aggressively, _very_ aggressively.

"S-Sato?" I called nervously. She turned around and dropped Komaeda who was still smiling somehow…

"Here for your investigation?" She asked us.

"Yeah… isn't Tsuki, Tsumiki and Pekoyama supposed to be with you?" I asked.

"Togami wanted Tsumiki to produce a Wound Examination." Sato explained.

"Is that like an autopsy for alive people?" Chiaki asked.

"I think so, Komaeda had one done earlier." Sato confirmed.

"Ok well we'll question Komaeda quickly then before heading over to them." I said. "Komaeda we need answers." I said sternly.

"Hinata… how nice it is for you to visit me. Is your investigation going well? You're going to prove my innocence right?" Komaeda said creepily.

"How can you be so sure about that?" I asked.

"Well I wasn't able to investigate because of these circumstances… so my life is in your hands." Komaeda said… why is handing his life like that?! No… no time for this. The trial was coming soon, I could feel it coming… and Monokuma said it was coming when me and Chiaki were heading over here.

"Komaeda, did you smuggle anything before the party?" I asked.

"No." That was all he said…but of course how was I supposed to know he wasn't lying?

"Can you explain what happened when the lights switched off?" Chiaki asked.

"Well… everyone started shouting but then I felt someone punch me. I tried to run but then I was tackled into the table which fell over… and then the floor crashed down. But even after that I felt hands on myself so I tried to stop the fight until the lights switched back on. Then you know what happened from there.

 ** _Truth Bullet?_** **  
** ** _Nagito's account?_**

"Ok that's all, now Sato I need to ask you something. How did you get the arrow past Togami?" I asked.

"We made a deal that I was allowed to keep it, you can ask him about it." Sato said.

"Chiaki do you have anything to ask?" I asked.

"Did you clean the storage room Komaeda?" She asked.

"No, Kettei said it wasn't worth cleaning. We focused on the main room." Komaeda replied.

"That's all… can you point us to where Tsuki, Pekoyama and Tsumiki were?"

"Check Tsumiki's cottage, they should be done with the Wound Examination." Sato answered so me and Chiaki turned around headed for the exit but then Sato grabbed hold of my shoulder whispered in my ear.

"Hinata, I found small bits of broken glass in Komaeda's pocket, he doesn't know how it got there. Also I'm not sure who it is but Komaeda or Tsuki is lying about something, _I think both of them_. I don't know what it is or how it's related but be on your guard." And with that Sato let me go and shoved me to the exit… is that what Sato was trying to get Komaeda to talk about before?

 **Truth Bullet  
Broken glass**

"5-Minutes left…" Monokuma haunted as we ran past him.

* * *

 **Location: Tsumiki's cottage  
** After knocking on her door rather hurriedly, Pekoyama opened it up and let us in.

"Tsuki, we need to ask you questions, now." I said quickly. It looked like his right arm had been wrapped up in bandages.

"Ask away." Tsuki offered.

"Did you smuggle anything before the party?"

"No, I didn't see anything like that at all."

"What happened when the lights cut out?" I asked.

"Everyone was shouting loudly, then I felt a flare of pain in my arm." He pointed at it… "I was struck first there, in retaliation I turned and grabbed the arm of my attacker. He struggled back so I tried to pin him to the floor but… well I think we ended up fall on the table. Then the floor collapsed ending up in a whole lot of pain… but I was worried I was going to get attacked again so I tried to feel out for my attacker again, that's how we ended up wrestling when the lights came back on."

 ** _Truth Bullet?  
Kettei's account?_**

"Okay…" I said as I gathered my thoughts.

"Why was the storage room not cleaned?" Chiaki asked.

"Komaeda said we should focus on the main room because no one would be in that dirty." Tsuki said in direct contrast to Komaeda.

"Tsumiki, did you write up the Wound Examination report?" I asked.

"Y-Yes I did… I made multiple copies as well… i-is that ok?" Tsumiki said.

"That's fine, can I see it?" I asked and she handed it me. I quickly skimmed it, looking at the most important bits.

 _Wound Examination – Nagito Komaeda  
Large bruises on his back, likely from a drop in height. Has splinters from the floor boards in his skin._

 _Wound Examination – Kettei Tsuki  
Large cut in his right arm due to a thin blade. No permanent damage as it's only a flesh wound but a descent amount of blood was lost due to this. Has bruising on his left arm, likely from a drop in height._

 **Truth Bullet  
** **Wound Examinations**

"Tsumiki." I said as I brought out the bloody blade out of my pocket. "Does this knife match the cut on Tsuki's arm?"

"Y-Yes… it is the right length and width… I think you can assume it is." Tsumiki replied.

"One more question, Pekoyama did you activate the circuit breaker by yourself?" I asked.

"Yes, I was in the office the whole time. After the blackout it took a while but I was able to get my bearings and reset it. At the same time Togami came in the office with the same intentions but he was too late."

 **Truth Bullet  
Pekoyama's account**

"So? Do you think I did it?" Tsuki asked.

"Did what? There are three separate cases to solve." I replied.

"Yes but Monokuma told us something… he said the reason all of them had to be solved was because they were all connected." Tsuki explained. "He also mentioned something else about Monoquinine when Pekoyama asked about it."

"What is it?" Chiaki asked.

"I-It's a 'bear made' poison that kills within 15-minutes of consumption." Tsumiki explained. "H-However it doesn't spread very well…" Pekoyama then continued for her.

"Only a small amount of it was available, it was hidden until a student found it. Once the poison is poured it sinks deep into the material, I assume meat, but doesn't spread along it very well so all of it is consumed within one bite. It is also colourless and tasteless… making it a deadly weapon. 'Monoquinine'." Pekoyama explained fully.

 **Truth Bullet  
Monoquinine**

" **Ding Dong, Bing Bong.** Ok, times up folk! We got ourselves a triple murder on our hands, meaning that's triple the fun! But only one dead body… how disappointing, but then again I can't just have you all die at once… there would be no fun that! Now everyone get over to the new Monokuma Rock!" The announcement ordered… slowly I headed over to face our class trial.

I started to panic… what was I going to do? I hadn't even been able to talk to Togami or Hanamura… I tried to think about what to do… go through the evidence… think it all through…

* * *

 **Ammunition and brief description:**

 **· Monokuma File  
Nekomaru died of poisoning from Monoquinine with 15-minutes at around 11:30. Died in the bathroom.**

 **· Nekomaru's body state  
Nekomaru was sitting on the toilet dead with his pants up.**

 **· Uneaten chicken leg  
Nekomaru brought this to the bathroom but didn't eat it at all.**

· **Locked door  
The door to the bathroom was locked on the inside**

· **Fuyuhiko's and Chiaki's account  
They both were talking outside the building during the blackout and entered as the it finished.**

· **Murder Attempt in the blackout  
Both Kettei and Nagito were thought to be fighting in the blackout… however who attacked first is unsure.**

· **Floor collapse  
Part of the floor collapsed in the corner of the room during the blackout, ripping part of carpet with it. A table had fallen inside with Kettei and Nagito as well.**

· **Blood under the floorboards  
Fresh blood was found under the floorboards, likely belonging to Kettei who had an open wound at the time.**

· **Broken table  
A table had fallen down and was split in two from a heavier force.**

· **Green tape  
Stuck under the table that fell, had the knife attached to it beforehand. The tape was coated in green paint.**

· **Bloody knife  
Fresh blood, likely belonging to Kettei, was found on this. Matches his wound and was planted beforehand.**

· **Darkness under the floorboards  
Without the hole in the floor, it would be pitch black due to the carpet on the floor above.**

· **White sheet  
Had holes cut inside it, with the intentions of being worn. Found underneath the trapdoor.**

· **Trapdoor  
Connects the storage room to underneath the floorboards.**

· **Green paint  
Glow in the dark paint that was leading from the trapdoor to the origin point of the hole in the floor**

· **Heated irons  
Irons that were switched on before the blackout, but for some reason didn't leak water.**

· **Hand drawn picture  
Er… I forgot what was on this. But the only students near the hole sight was Kettei and Nagito. Picture was taken before Teruteru was accused to be concealing a weapon.**

· **Concealed iron skewer  
Hidden in the meat on the bone by Teruteru. Found by me and Byakuya.**

· **Hung by an arrow  
Teruteru was hung by an arrow from before the blackout to after the blackout, he was unable to move during this time.**

· **AC times  
The air-conditioners were both set for 11:30pm, the time of the murder.**

· **Ibuki's account.  
A memory of who said what during the blackout.**

· **Circuit breaker  
Reset by Pekoyama during the blackout.**

· **Kitchen search  
Me and Byakuya found no other suspicious items in the kitchen, neither did Sonia and Gundham.**

· **Food Consumption  
Byakuya, Peko, Akane and Nekomaru ate food.**

· **_Nagito's account?  
Claims to be struck first before running away but getting tackled._**

· **_Kettei's account?  
Claims to be stabbed first before pinning his attacker in the table. After the floor broke he tried to make sure his attacker didn't strike again by pinning him._**

· **Broken glass  
Sato found small pieces of broken glass in Nagito's pocket which he couldn't explain.**

· **Wound Examinations  
** **Details explaining both Nagito's and Kettei's wounds.**

· **Peko's account  
Reset the breaker during the blackout, Byakuya came in during that.**

· **Monoquinine  
Small amounts of poison that kills with 15-minutes. Tasteless, colourless and doesn't spread very well but is absorbable.**

* * *

That was everything… my head hurt from it. This was a lot to bear… but I had a slight miniscule idea of what happened, and all my hopes laid upon it. I looked at Monokuma rock, it was a giant rock Monokuma was facing away from us and into the ocean. Stairs had appeared leading into its… ass. That's where our class trial would be held? I hate that bear so much.

* * *

 **This first part was short for a reason, I wanted to hurry things along so the story could go in a new direction where I don't keep directly taking moments from the game. In my opinion the first two chapters are probably going to be the crappiest ones so to make up with it I hinted at the (whole new) bigger plot line and released the prologue with this chapter as well.**

 **This murder was going to be crappy as well but I decided to spice it up with a lot of mysteries when I got some inspiration… I wonder if you can figure out what had happened? I don't really expect anyone to exactly what happened as not all the evidence was revealed but you might have an idea of what was _supposed_ to happen with the 'crashing floor'.**

 **The next few chapters after the trial will be longer with both daily and deadly life. I also added a short prologue before first chapter to hint at the bigger story. To those of you who got the various different references to different things, (mainly other games) hope you found them funny… more on the way. Any review is appreciated, thanks to all the follows/fav/reviews so far.**


	4. Chapter 3 - A Three for One Trial

Chapter 3 – A Three for One Trial

* * *

"A-Are we really going to do this?" Tsumiki asked. We had all gathered at Monokuma rock, looking at the escalator that suddenly appeared out of its rock sculpted behind… how can he be like this? Nekomaru Nidai dies… and Monokuma just treats this all like a joke!

"We have to." Togami answered. "Otherwise we all get executed."

"Well the killer is obvious!" Soda said. "We just vote Hanamura and get this over with!"

"N-N-No! D-Don't do that! I was framed I tell you! Framed!" Hanamura said in defence.

"That is the story he's been going with this whole time." Togami said.

"Do you have proof?" Tsuki asked.

"Proof?" Soda said.

"Yeah, proof." Tsuki confirmed. "You all investigated… and a lot of stuff happened tonight. If you're going to accuse Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Cook, of literally killing someone… I hope you have proof. That's a grave accusation."

"Call me chief." Hanamura said bitterly.

"I do too." Togami said while ignoring Hanamura. "There was too much to investigate for me to figure out everything alone… so unfortunately I'm going to have to rely on you guys." He then gave me a gaze… _was he referring to me? The guy who doesn't even remember his talent?_

"No! You can't do this!" Monomi exclaimed. "Please… no more class trials. Not after everything you've all been through… we can't do this all again."

"Can I ask what you mean by that?" Sonia said. "I have heard similar words countless times from both you and Monokuma… are you implying a similar event has occurred?" Monomi just hid her face in silence.

"It might have." Chiaki confirmed.

"What?! Something this fucked up has happened before!?" Kuzuryū shouted.

"Didn't you say this was normal life for you?" Koizumi asked.

"W-Well…" Kuzuryū stuttered.

"We can discuss that afterwards. For now, we need to focus on the trial." Togami ordered.

"But you did threaten to kill before, that is a problem." Sato countered.

"Shut up! I don't plan on getting killed or killing anyone anymore!" Kuzuryū said.

"So you are no longer threatening to kill anyone?" Pekoyama questioned.

"I don't know! Just leave it!" Kuzuryū shouted yet again.

"Get moving runts!" Monokuma shouted from atop the escalator. "Or I'll execute you all!"

"I have no intention of going up that demon's ejection hole." Tanaka said.

"Yeah, what he said! Clearly the guy controlling that robot is a pervert!" Saionji said.

"Or girl." Togami said. "Appearances can be deceiving… anyone can be male or female behind that robot."

"OI MORONS! GET THE HELL UP HERE!" Monokuma shouted even louder.

"I'll go first then." Tsuki offered before stepping up to the escalator.

"H-Hold on… how is your arm?" Koizumi asked.

"I don't need assistance. My body heals quickly and Tsumiki works magic…" Tsuki said before taking off the left half of his bloodied dark blue jacket revealing the bandages on his right arm from the large cut. He raised the arm, revealing it for everyone to see before pointing at the rock Monokuma. "A cut like this is no problem, let's focus on the trial for now. But it was nice of you to be concerned." And then he jumped on the escalator first, slowly getting farer away from us.

"Hey! I didn't mean it like that!" Koizumi said but Tsuki feigned ignorance causing her to become frustrated. "Ugh! How rude!" She then got on the escalator.

"Tsuki wait! You shouldn't wave your arm like that, it could re-open the wound!" Tsumiki called before following. Togami then shoved Hanamura onto the escalator as well.

"This isn't too bad, maybe stone is as good as skin." Hanamura commented.

"Well I just can't back out now!" Owari shouted before jumping on.

"We must stick together if we are to get through this, I don't believe any of us killed one another." Sonia said as she followed.

"Man, how annoying. But if Miss Sonia is going then I guess I have to as well." Soda said before getting on the escalator as well.

"I'll go ahead." Pekoyama simply put as she followed. Kuzuryū just groaned before heading on up.

"This was a game… I never wanted to play." Chiaki said as she stepped on the escalator.

"To think someone would commit murder among us… ***guh***." Sato spat before following.

"Ibuki will join everyone." Ibuki said.

"I'm going to bop that bear on the head next time I see him." Saionji threatened as she carried on.

"Now that I have constructed a magical ward, I can carry on to destroy this demon." Tanaka said as he too took a step on the escalator.

"Amazing how everyone can be so hopeful at such a despairful situation!" Komaeda announced before heading on up.

 _Tsuki's little performance had somehow convinced everyone to get on there, was that his intention?_ _Those left was just me and Togami_.

"You better have done a proper investigation Hinata." Togami said.

"Why are you relying on me?"

"Not relying, this will just be a lot harder if I'm on my own. The problem with most of the others is that they think they know the killer. Anyone who has looked at this case for more than five seconds can tell that this is more complicated than it looks, so you are going to get this trial along while I figure out how to incriminate the killer." Togami explained.

"So… you know who the killer is?"

"No… but I _will_ figure it out. But I want you to know this, during my investigation I was unable to investigate the main room in which the fight occurred, so _you_ are going to explain it for me." Togami said before heading on the escalator. _Why is he relying on me to do that…? I know I didn't have enough time to investigate everything either so it makes sense, but why me? I should be careful though, just in case._

As Togami entered Monokuma Rock I tried to follow but then…

 **BANG**

I fell to the floor, clutching my head in pain. Something was wrong! Terribly wrong! But I just couldn't pin it… my head hurt like two rocks were being grinded against it on each side… slowly my vision went black…

…

"Oh no! Please get up!" I heard a high pitch voice call.

"Monomi…" I said in response as I opened my eyes.

"Oh my, I was terribly worried for a second. I'm dreadfully sorry for having to do this but you need to go up those escalators before Monokuma gets mad…"

"Huh… oh… yeah right." I quickly regained my composure as pain began to recede, I needed to focus on the trial.

 _A trial of life and death… two attempted murders and an actual murder, a potential framing, a stabbing, a poisoning… this is it. I headed up the escalator… it leads into an elevator where everyone was waiting._

"So we had to go up before going down, how counterproductive." Sato commented before the elevator started to shake and descend. _No one else said anything, we just waited in anticipation. Just waited… and waited…_

* * *

Until the door opened and we headed into the trial room, 18 stands in a circle were ready for us, one of them had a picture of Nidai with a X-mark made out of what looked like blood in the shape of chains. Each stand had a name chiselled into it, one for each of us. I took my place, on my right was Pekoyama and on my left was Ibuki. I looked around to see where everyone was positioned. From me to my right was, Pekoyama, Soda, Sato, Nidai, Owari, Tanaka, Chiaki, Togami, Koizumi, Hanamura, Saionji, Komaeda, Tsumiki, Tsuki, Sonia, Kuzuryū, Ibuki and finally back to me. _Somehow this felt different from before… but what was this 'before' feeling I had?_

"Now before we begin, let me give an explanation of the class trial that I say is brief but really it isn't and I needlessly repeat it every god damn time just so that the viewers can get their own feeling of Despair." Monokuma said.

"Just get one with it." Togami said.

"Fine, fine. You guys debate to find out who the killer is, and once you've come to a conclusion it's voting time. Once the killer has been decided by majority vote **and you are correct** I'll punish them and them alone. If you get it **wrong,** then I'll execute everyone but the killer! Now get going!" Monokuma ordered.

"Such a cruel rule!" Monomi said as she hung from a rope.

* * *

 **Time for that thing you _hate_ the most about this game, (aside from killing of your favourite character) cringe tutorials where the devs think their being edgy and unique but really it's just really annoying that you have to read through this to learn the controls or skip it and go in blindly. Anyway, since this is just text on paper you can figure out how this works easily. After all, the way Hajime works through trials will still be the same. For other investigators, when we switch to them for other trials, the layout will be different. But for now let's stick to reliable Hajime. Also there will be more Rebuttal Showdowns with more characters, even if they never took part in it before, because I think they're pretty cool.**

* * *

 **Trial Start**

* * *

Non-Stop Debate

* * *

 **Mikan Tsumiki:** S-So where do we start…?

 **Nagito Komaeda:** Who knows? A lot went on that night.

 **Kazuichi Soda:** I know and I'm going to prove it to you all!

 **Akane Owari:** What, you know? Then spit it out already!

 **Kazuichi Soda:** Well Nidai **died of poisoning** right? Meaning that the killer is clearly Hanamura!

 **Teruteru Hanamura:** No I'm not!

 **Ibuki Mioda:** You cooked the food! HOW SUSPICIOUS!

 **Kazuichi Soda:** Nidai died in the bathroom as he **ate a chicken leg** that was cooked by Hanamura!

 **Akiko Sato:** That puts a lot of suspicion on him.

 _No, I wish it was this clear cut but it isn't. I don't want to do this but… I have to show everyone that this isn't going to help find the killer._

 **Hajime Hinata:** No, that's wrong! Nidai definitely didn't eat that chicken leg! It had n-

 **Kazuichi Soda:** I came prepared!

* * *

Rebuttal Showdown!  
Kazuichi vs Hajime

* * *

"Teruteru definitely killed Nekomaru!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"That chicken leg was **cooked by Teruteru** and  
was found next to Nekomaru's body. He brought  
it to the toilet before eating it and dying!"

"Take a closer look,  
that chicken leg had **no bite marks** inside it!"

"So? Maybe he **sniffed it** as he  
sat down on the toilet!"

"The **Monokuma File** clearly shows that the poison  
needed to have been ingested!"

"Stupid Hinata, he could have licked it or something.  
 **He definitely are the chicken in the bathroom!** "

"Allow me to cut through those words! The poison  
 **takes 15-minutes** before paralysing and killing the victim.  
Nidai couldn't have eaten the chicken leg in any form in that bathroom  
in that span of time since he **died before he was able to do his business**."

End!

* * *

"So was the chicken leg a red herring?" Sonia asked.

"The door to the bathroom was even locked so the chicken leg couldn't have been planted by the killer." I finished explaining.

"I-I would never soil my food with poison! As my lovely Hinata said, you have no proof!" Hanamura said.

"Sooo… now what?" Ibuki asked nervously.

"If anyone has any leads regarding the poisoning then present it." Togami said. No one said anything in response to it.

"We already have suspects." Sato started to say. "Those that spent the most amount of time near the food could have easily placed the poison."

* * *

Non-Stop Debate

* * *

 **Akiko Sato:** Those who spent the most amount of time around the food are the **most suspicious**.

 **Hiyoko Saionji:** So it was that sleazy cook then!

 **Teruteru Hanamura:** I would never do something so horrible to my food!

 **Akiko Sato:** There are others who are suspicious as well, such as both **Komaeda and Tsuki**.

 **Nagito Komaeda:** There's no way it's any of us…

 **Akiko Sato:** That just makes you more suspicious.

 **Kettei Tsuki:** We spent a lot of time moving in-between the supermarket and old building. So **anyone could have snuck in and planted that poison**.

 **Sonia Nevermind:** Does that mean **none of us have an alibi**?

 **Gundham Tanaka:** Perhaps the poison was **planted afterwards**?

 **Akane Owari:** So was someone carryin' the poison with them?

 **Mikan Tsumiki:** T **-** That would be very d-dangerous.

 **Fuyuhiko Kuzuryū** : They fuckin' killed someone remember? Something dangerous wouldn't stop them.

 _The poison that killed Nidai… was it brought before or after the party started? I need to see what evidence helps here… of course! I know what to show… but it isn't going to help our situation much. Only deny one of the many possibilities, are we even getting somewhere?_

 **Hajime Hinata:** You've got that wrong! The poison couldn't have been smuggled in the party because of the body search Togami performed on everyone.

Break!

* * *

"Togami, did you confiscate any vials of poison?" I asked.

"No." Togami responded.

"How can we believe that?" Sato questioned. "Togami could have brought It himself in one of those duralumin cases."

"You're better off not accusing me; it won't lead anywhere." Togami said.

"You suggested an idea of a party and are the only one who could have brought foreign items inside." Sato said unrelentingly.

"This is a waste of time but if you need proof then fine." Togami said before turning to someone else. "Sonia hand me the key."

"I see, so this is why you gave it to me." Sonia said before handing two keys down to Togami. With it he picked up the duralumin cases he had been carrying around and unlocked it.

"After the murder I asked both Sonia and Tanaka to look at what was inside." Togami started to explained. "They can confirm that there was no such vial of poison or anything of the sorts."

"Yes, it is as Togami said." Sonia confirmed. Tanaka just gave a brief nod.

"You could have gotten rid of it before." Kuzuryū said.

"I would have had to dispose of it before the murder. I did not have access to the duralumin cases because I gave the key to Sonia right after the murder in case I was suspected." Togami started to explain, as if he was three steps ahead of everyone else. "It's a lot more likely the killer had disposed of the poison before we found the body, otherwise it would have been a huge risk to walk around with it, especially if I had already performed one body check."

"So er, when was the poison planted then?" Soda asked unsurely.

"I-It was either b-before the party or during it." Tsumiki answered.

"Ibuki is confused, when was the poison put _in_ the food?" Ibuki asked.

"It could have been placed in the food before the party started." Koizumi suggested.

"Or brought in, during the party by Togami and he managed to dispose of it inconspicuously." Sato added on.

"Your suspicions are misled, but there isn't anything else to incriminate me so you all best move the conversation onto something to else to find the real killer." Togami advised.

"Do we have any other leads?" Tsuki asked to everyone… but no one replied. I didn't anything else related to the poisoning either.

"…"

"This is a problem since we have no further evidence regarding this case." Pekoyama said.

"Are we already stuck? It hasn't even been that long!" Saionji complained.

"W-We can't give up already." Koizumi said.

"I agree; we need to find something else to discuss." Sato added on.

"Instead of jumping directly to the poisoning, maybe we should discuss every event that happened that night?" Chiaki advised.

"What? But how does that relate as to how coach was murdered?" Owari asked.

"Monokuma said it himself that everything was connected. If we solve the other two cases we should be closer to the answer." I said, not really believing myself.

"Then we can discuss Hanamura's attempted murder." Sato suggested.

"I was framed!" Hanamura said in defence.

 _Was Hanamura framed? That's the first mystery I need to figure out… but I feel like it won't be answered any time soon. I should focus on what just happened for now…_

* * *

Non-Stop Debate

* * *

 **Teruteru Hanamura:** I was definitely framed! That Iron Skewer was **planted by someone else!**

 **Fuyuhiko Kuzuryū:** Dude you're so fuckin' suspicious. Poison and a skewer in your food… what's next? **A bomb?**

 **Akiko Sato:** When would Hanamura have used this weapon? We should focus on that.

 **Gundham Tanaka:** Even a mortal like him isn't dumb enough to just stab someone in plain sight.

 **Ibuki Mioda:** Maybe he waited until **someone was alone** then STABBY STAAB STAB **.**

 **Mahiru Koizumi:** Wasn't Pekoyama alone? Were you planning to **kill her?!**

 **Peko Pekoyama:** That would be foolish, I would have unarmed him easily.

 **Hiyoko Saionji:** That's the kind of thing a moron like him would do!

 **Chiaki Nanami:** Maybe he found a way to **gain an advantage…?**

 **Teruteru Hanamura:** T-There isn't anything to suggest it was me! I was framed!"

 _Was he framed…? Or was it planned? The outcome of this could change the trial dramatically… Actually I'm not too sure where this is going to lead, but I have evidence to help get me there. And I think **she** has a similar idea._

 **Hajime Hinata: I agree with that!** The user of the Iron Skewer was going to use **the blackout** to gain an advantage and kill someone unsuspectingly!

Break!

* * *

"They were going to use the blackout to kill someone?!" Sonia gasped.

"Suits the coward." Sato commented as she glared at Hanamura.

"P-P-Please! It wasn't me!" Hanamura begged.

"Is that right? You think the one who planted that iron skewer, the 'killer', was going use the blackout in order to kill someone?" Komaeda questioned.

"T-That's what I said… why are you questioning it Komaeda?" I asked.

"Well that would mean the 'killer' would have planned out the blackout, right?" Komaeda said.

 _The 'killer' planned out the blackout…? Can I really be sure that it was them who planned it out…? I can't… there isn't any proof it was them! Is Komaeda… trying to help me or misdirect me? Could someone else have done it?_

"…I can't prove it." I admitted.

"Then we should try looking at it differently." Chiaki said. "Maybe if the case with the Iron Skewer doesn't explain the blackout… we should go to other third case that will… I think."

 _The third case… the one we haven't discussed yet… the one that took place during the blackout!_

"The cause of the blackout, is directly related to the attempted murder during it. The one where both Tsuki and Komaeda ended up fighting in the dark." I agreed.

"Where I got stabbed." Tsuki reminded.

"And I got attacked." Komaeda said.

"B-But how do we figure out what happened… d-during then?" Tsumiki asked.

"Did the 'killer' manipulate both the lights and the floorboards?" Tanaka asked.

 _The one who attempted to kill either Tsuki or Komaeda… were they the cause of breaking the floorboards? Is that even possible?_

"We should take this step by step and first figure out how the blackout was setup." Chiaki advised.

* * *

Non-Stop Debate

* * *

 **Kazuichi Soda: Pekoyama was in the office room** with the circuit breaker! She did it!

 **Peko Pekoyama:** I was in the office, but I did not touch the circuit breaker.

 **Akane Owari:** Maybe they **turned the lights off?**

 **Byakuya Togami:** Consider a **power surge.**

 **Akiko Sato:** How about some sort of **electronic timer** linked to the circuitry?

 **Teruteru Hanamura:** Maybe it was just a **coincidence?**

 _There's a lot of different ways this could have played out… but I think I know what really happened!_

 **Hajime Hinata: That must be it!** An intentional power surge was caused with the **irons** in the storage room!"

Break!

* * *

"When me and Koizumi investigated the storage room, we found that **three irons were turned on** before the blackout. By using that much power, they caused a power surge!" I explained.

"Huh? So the irons really were useful?" Koizumi said.

"The circuitry in that old building was pretty bad… it could have caused it." Soda said.

"Are you sure about that?" Komaeda questioned. "Is that really conclusive evidence that the blackout was intentional?"

"K-Komaeda? You didn't even investigate, what are you saying…?" I replied.

"I may be out of the loop here… but your argument is severely lacking for the Ultimate… oh wait, you still don't remember." Komaeda pointed out.

"W-Who cares about that? If you have a problem, then just say it!" I demanded.

"Fine… will you battle me head to head Hajime?" Komaeda asked… I never gave him permission to use my name! " **No, that's wrong!** "

* * *

Rebuttal Showdown!  
Nagito vs Hajime

"Show me the extent of your **hope**!"

"W-What are you talking about?"

"The first issue here is how do you know  
the irons were used for the blackout?"

"The irons were still exuding heat when I  
investigated them."

"Maybe someone switched them on after?  
The killer could have been on the loose  
and tampering with evidence."

"Impossible. Togami forced us to investigate  
in twos! Everyone has an alibi."

"Did he now? Then what if the killer had an  
accomplice? Then the two could have paired  
up and not rat on each other."

"Monokuma specifically said that there were  
 **no accomplices!** "

"Ok, but how do you prove the irons were  
switched on with the intention of causing a  
blackout?"

"Three of them were plugged in and had there  
switches set to on. How is that not suspicious?"

"Maybe someone just wanted to iron some  
clothes and left them on?"

"What sort of argument is that? What are  
you trying to pull here Nagito!?"

"Do you have proof that the irons were  
switched on with the **intentions of causing  
the blackout**?"

" **Yes I do!** "

End!

* * *

"Koizumi pointed out something specific-" I tried to say but Togami interrupted.

"I have a question." Togami said, this was the first time he had spoken up.

"What's the big idea speaking up all of a sudden?!" Koizumi questioned.

"Don't question it." Togami said before turning to Nagito. "Komaeda, how do you iron your clothes?"

"Huh? Iron my clothes? Well you just turn it on and put the clothes on the ironing board." Nagito answered.

"Tsuki, now you answer." Togami ordered.

"You check that the clothes are the right material to be ironed, then you fill it with water, set the heat according to the material of the clothes… and then I can go into detail about how you iron them but that would take a while." Tsuki answered.

"That is all, go back to debating." Togami said.

 _What was that all about? Togami just stays silent all this time but now decides to speak up… was he trying to prove something?_

"A boy who irons their clothes…" Koizumi asked in surprise.

"Weekly… but I think we should get back on topic." Tsuki said. "Hinata, what was this proof that the irons were used with the intention of the blackout?"

"As I was saying, Koizumi pointed something out to me before." I said, even though my moment had passed. "Whenever you switch an iron on and leave it aside, **it leaks.** "

"And…?" Komaeda asked.

"We didn't find any traces of water near them, because they weren't filled with any! Why would you iron clothes without any water…? You wouldn't!" I pointed out.

"That would burn them!" Koizumi added on.

"Ah!" Tsuki said in inspiration. "And with Togami's question, Komaeda didn't mention using water with an iron, he slipped up! Nagito set up the irons, and thus the blackout!"

"You're accusing me? But how did 'I' _control_ the blackout to go off when I wanted?" Komaeda asked nonchalantly.

"I didn't get to investigate so I don't know. Does anyone have any idea?" Tsuki asked, mainly looking at me.

"I know." I answered, my hunch was right. "The **AC timers** were both set for 11:30pm! That could have overloaded the circuit and cause a blackout!"

"That's a lot of power being used, it would definitely cause a blackout." Soda confirmed.

"11:30? When did that happen?" Komaeda questioned.

"Huh?" I said in surprise.

"I'm saying, how do we know the blackout went off at 11:30pm?" Komaeda said.

"It's obviously you! Stop denying it and just admit it already!" Saionji said.

"You set up the blackout and tried to kill Tsuki during it, didn't you?" Kuzuryū accused.

"You're all just assuming that." Tsuki explained. "You can't claim such things without the appropriate proof."

"W-What are you doing!? Are you… admitting to your guilt?" Sonia gasped.

"No… I believe I'm not guilty, but this isn't how I want it to be done. If you're going to accuse someone of attempted murder you have to be sure of it." Tsuki said.

"What the hell! You're… defending him!?" Soda asked in surprise.

"I'm not defending him, I accused him remember?" Tsuki said. "I'm saying that we have to look through every problem. Now Nagito, if we prove that the power went off at 11:30, that would incriminate you further, would it not?"

"It suppose it would." Komaeda said.

"Then someone prove it!" Tsuki said.

"I'll do that." Togami said. "Nidai ate this 'poisoned food' at roughly 11:15, giving it 15-minutes to kill him at around 11:30 as said in the **Monokuma File**. Hinata has proved that Nidai didn't eat the food in or during his way to the bathroom... so he ate the food sometime during the party, _before_ the blackout. That means we know the blackout went off _after_ 11:15. Everyone understand?"

 _I don't believe it… Togami sounds like he had this planned!_

"You've made that point pretty clear, well done." Komaeda replied.

"Exactly, the blackout occurred around that time, this helps prove that AC times were connected to the blackout. And the person who set the AC timers, were Nagito. I saw him do it." Tsuki finished.

"Why didn't you say that before!?" Soda shouted in annoyance.

"Because my testimony is just as unreliable as Nagito's." Tsuki said. "Instead of proving it with something you can't be sure of, prove it with something you can. And Togami helped prove that with his little explanation. So I just said that as an add on."

"That's true… it _could_ have been me who set up the blackout." Komaeda agreed. "But how can you prove that someone else didn't? Anyone could have snuck in the old building while it was being cleaned. Can you answer that?"

"Prove? This isn't a real trial you know! It's obvious you set up the blackout!" Saionji accused.

"Is it really? Why do you think it was me who set all that up?" Komaeda asked… everyone had his eyes on him. He had been acting very suspicious and clearly the others had noticed.

 _"You set the AC timers." Sato said.  
"You were cleaning the old building, you had the opportunity to set them up." Koizumi accused.  
"The party at the old building was your idea wasn't it?" Pekoyama mentioned.  
"You rigged the drawings didn't you, so you could get picked!" Soda said._

"Now, now… let's all just calm down here. After all, can you prove it was _me_ who did all that stuff?" Nagito mentioned.

"It was obviously you!" Soda retorted.

"No, he has a point." Tsuki said.

"What?" I said in surprise.

"You're all just assuming that." Tsuki said. "You can't claim such things without the appropriate proof, in reality I look just as guilty. You only have my word that Nagito set the AC timers and I offered to clean the old building, even though I wasn't picked at the drawings." Tsuki explained to all our horror.

"Why are you set on defending the one who tried to kill you?!" Sato snarled.

"Look at it differently for a moment." Tsuki said. "You're all just ganging up on Nagito because _I pointed you in that direction_. Before you all jumped on Hanamura because he was the cook, but there isn't anything actually incriminating him! **Stop being so narrow minded** and think about it clearly! Otherwise the real killer is just going misguide you all!"

 _Narrow… minded? All this time I was busy thinking Nagito was the cause of this… but I completely forgot about Tsuki._

"This is useless! We haven't figured anything out." Saionji suddenly said.

"N-No progress?" Tsumiki asked.

"She's right." Nagito answered. We've been arguing at this for a while now… but we're still no closer to figuring it out."

"W-What do you mean? If you just give me more time I can figure out who-" I tried to say but Nagito interrupted me.

"Who cares? It's obvious this has nothing to do with Nekomaru's murder, even if we do figure it out. Even if I caused the blackout! This whole situation is just… _hopeless_." Nagito said.

"B-But!" I tried to fight but he wouldn't let me.

"How about… instead of surviving by doubting others, isn't it better to get killed for believing in others?" Nagito said.

"D-Doesn't that mean…? Are you saying we should all just give up and die?" Ibuki gasped in horror.

"Nagito! Something is wrong with you! Drop the act!" I shouted.

"What act are you talking about...? You're the one that isn't normal… doubting people on the case of two attempted murders and an actual one. That isn't normal you know?" Nagito said back to me. "It's **impossible** for all that to have happened on just the second day don't you think… I mean… I don't want to do this anymore! I don't want to doubt my friends!"

"I… I don't want to do this either..." Hanamura agreed.

"D-Don't say that…!" Sato tried to fight.

"I-I want to go home already!" Tsumiki begged.

"Waaaaaah! I wanna go home and eat candy!" Saionji said in tears.

"S-Stop it… don't talk like… like this…!" Koizumi begged.

"E-Everyone calm down!" I called but to little effect.

"We're all friends… aren't we?" Nagito said. "Is it really possible that all this happened in one night? It's impossible… it's all just Monokuma's doing."

"You can't suddenly just pin this all on Monokuma! Nidai died by one our hands." I retorted.

"There are no clues related to the poisoning you know… we have no idea who or what happened." Nagito preached.

 _The whole atmosphere sunk down into deep, dark despair. In truth I'm feeling it too… we have no actual leads on the real murder. Of course Monokuma said that the cases are related… but can I really believe that? I… have no idea who poisoned Nidai! But I have to do something, I need to say something…_

"Do we… have the right?" I heard Tsuki mutter.

"The… right?" I asked, instantly regretting it though. This isn't going to go well…

"As in, _the right to stop the killer?_ " Tsuki said louder, for everyone to hear.

"They killed Nidai. Of course we have the right to stop them." Sato said.

"I know this is going hurt my image, but I've been meaning to ask this." Tsuki said. "The killer among us… they killed someone because they wanted to go home right? At least, that's what I think… they killed someone because they wanted to check on their family. After those horrifying photos of the broken world outside this island I'm pretty sure we're all worried about them." Tsuki said.

 _By reminding us all that, somehow the mood got even worse._

"So I want to know, are we going to stop this killer from seeing their mom, dad… maybe a little sister, bigger brother or even a childhood friend. Are we really going to reveal them and have Monokuma kill them, so that we can all survive another day on this island? Are we entitled to make that sort of decision?" Tsuki kept saying.

 _The killers motive… I never thought of it like that. Have I been… trying to kill an innocent person?_

No… of course not. They killed Nidai to do it… they aren't innocent. But why aren't I objecting? I just can't find it in myself to… it sounds like they're the good guy but they aren't, so say something Hajime!

But before I could…

"So which path are we choosing?" Tsuki asked, now more lively. "Are we going to die not doubting our friends and **give the killer the burden** of telling our story to whoever is alive on the other side of the world? Or are **we going to carry the burden** of unravelling the killer ourselves and having them executed so we can live to fight another day? What will it be? What path are we taking!?" Tsuki roared that last bit to us with complete confidence, as expected of someone with the title of Ultimate Determined.

 _That speech… was neither full of hope, nor full of despair. But it definitely contained both of those elements, each option had its ups and down. But now I'm sure what we're fighting for… and what we are willing to sacrifice for it._

"I'll just go along with what everyone else chooses." Nagito said.

"I can live with sacrificing the killer, especially if it means our survival." Sato said.

"Tch, I agree with you. I ain't sacrificing myself for some killer." Kuzuryū agreed.

"So do I, killing is unforgiven so we must keep fighting." Pekoyama added on.

"As if I would give up this body for another, unheard of." Tanaka said.

"That killer is the lowest of the low! He deserves to be executed!" Saionji said.

"Well I don't like the idea of sacrificing anyone… I think we should keep trying." Chiaki said, at least her intentions were purer and… human.

"We have to keep on going, no matter the cost." I said.

"I'll keep fighting then, for coach Nekomaru!" Owari agreed.

"I guess I have to as well then." Soda said.

"M-Me too…" Koizumi agreed.

"Yes, we should work together to find the truth behind this unfortunate incident." Sonia announced.

"Hmph, this was an unneeded delay but if you want my input then it is to carry on." Togami said.

"Yeah, Ibuki wants this to keep going like the words that fly through the air." Ibuki added on.

"I-I-I'll do my best then!" Tsumiki said as she tried to build her confidence.

"Y-Yeah… I agree." Hanamura said lastly.

"Good, now that we're all in agreement let's carry this on." Tsuki announced. "We know a blackout was set up by someone and during this I was attacked."

"Then let's think about it like this." Chiaki said. "After setting up the blackout, what did that person plan to do? We should discuss that… I think."

* * *

Non-Stop Debate

* * *

 **Chiaki Nanami:** What were they planning to do… as the lights went out?"

 **Akiko Sato:** To kill someone of course.

 **Peko Pekoyama:** But how? It was impossible to see in the dark.

 **Akane Owari:** Maybe they **used a light?**

 **Kazuichi Soda:** They could have just **used the walls.**

 **Byakuya Togami:** Those options are neither practical nor probable to kill someone.

 **Mahiru Koizumi:** What about something to **guide them**?

 **Sonia Nevermind:** Perhaps a way to **see in the dark**?

 _What was the plan after the lights went out…? Assuming it was Tsuki or Nagito then that would mean…_

 **Hajime Hinata:** You've got that right! Koizumi, can you bring out the picture you drew up before?

Break!

* * *

"I've got it right here…" Koizumi responded as she brought up the picture. I pointed at the particular table with a **desk lamp** on it.

"Using the **lamp chord** , the 'killer' managed to make their way to the table." I said but no one really caught wind of what I was saying.

"And Hajime said that because…" Ibuki said.

"Do you recall the knife used to stab Tsuki?" I carried on. "The knife was hidden underneath the table before the party. Togami, did you check underneath the tables?"

"Ngh!" Togami instantly flinched at that. "No… I didn't."

"No that's wrong!" Nagito retorted.

* * *

Rebuttal Showdown!

Nagito vs Hajime

* * *

"Is that it? Is that all you have?"

"Y-You again?"

"How do you know the knife  
was hidden **underneath the table**?"

"Underneath that table,  
I found **tape stuck** to it!"

"How do you know that there  
wasn't **tape under every table**?"

"What sort of argument is that?"

"One fit for the likes of me…"

"What…? Whatever, the tape under  
that table had **green paint on it**!"

"What does that do?"

"It's glow in the dark! So by using the  
 **lamp chord** to get to the table, they were  
able to grab the knife underneath it!"

"And what was his plan then?  
After grabbing the knife, what  
was the plan?"

"To kill someone of course. Using the blackout  
as cover and distraction, they **took the knife and  
tried to kill someone** with it!"

"But who would do  
something like that? Can  
you prove who was near  
the table **at that time**?"

" **Yes I can!** "

End!

* * *

"Look back at the diagram Koizumi and Chiaki drew, it shows the positions of everyone just before me and Togami brought Hanamura from the kitchen. In other words, just before the blackout." I explained.

"So the killer is whoever was spending time near that table…" Sato announced as she looked at the diagram.

"I remember both me and Nagito were still in those positions at the time of the blackout, I had moved slightly away though when Togami accused Hanamura. Not that you can believe that." Tsuki said.

"Then one of you two did it." Sato accused.

"Now it's a matter of proving who did it." Tsuki replied. "Any ideas on how?"

"Just tell us!" Soda asked.

"That isn't going to work." Tsuki replied in an annoyed manner. "If I did it then I would say _it wasn't me_ , if Nagito did it he would say _it wasn't him_. If neither of us did it, we would both say we _it wasn't us._ Either way the answer stays the same, so this is going to have to be proved."

* * *

Non-Stop Debate

* * *

 **Kettei Tsuki:** Who grabbed the knife? **Me?** Or **Nagito?**

 **Kazuichi Soda:** Stop talking like that, it's creepy!

 **Mahiru Koizumi:** It had to be Nagito right? I mean Tsuki was cut in his arm.

 **Akiko Sato:** Meaning **Tsuki was struck first**.

 **Teruteru Hanamura:** But is that really what happened?

 **Ibuki Mioda:** Ibuki is unsure as well.

 **Akane Owari:** What if there was a **third person?**

 **Fuyuhiko Kuzuryū:** Wasn't Komaeda closer to the table? Then it was him!

 **Gundham Tanaka:** They both had the chance to **hide the knife earlier.**

 _Who stabbed who with the knife? I feel like the answer is obvious but something doesn't make sense…_

 **Hajime Hinata:** There's a problem with that! Think back to **Ibuki's account,** can you recall what was said?

Break!

* * *

"Hajime wants Ibuki to repeat that _again?_ Nughh! Ok sure.

 _"Who turned the lights off?" Akane asked.  
"I-I can't see!" Ibuki said cutely.  
"E-Everyone stay calm." Mahiru said.  
"Stop moving and calm down!" Sato commanded.  
"Ugh!" Nagito shouted.  
"Arghh!" Kettei screamed.  
"Can someone let me down!?" Teruteru begged._

 ** _BANG_** _  
Togami figured out this was the table that fell on the floor, but as it did, then the floor began to fall._

 ** _CRAAAAAAAAAASH  
_** _And that was the floor falling and with it fell poor Kettei and Nagito._

"If Nagito was struck first, then why did he shout in pain first?" Hinata asked.

"That struck me as odd as well." Tsuki confirmed. "I heard that directly before I was stabbed, and it was very close."

"So there was a third person?" Owari asked.

"I'm not sure about that…" I replied.

"Then we should hear both Komaeda's and Tsuki's testimonies." Togami said.

"I was punched as the lights went out before getting tackled on the floor. Then the floor collapsed twice and I ended up underneath the floorboards." Komaeda said.

"I remember getting stabbed in the arm at first, then I turned and grabbed my attacker to the floor but we ended up on the table I think. A few moments after that I fell a distance and ended up under the floorboards." Tsuki explained.

"So one of them is lying." Sato said.

* * *

Non-Stop Debate

* * *

 **Akane Owari:** What about a third person doin' it all?

 **Peko Pekoyama:** That would explain how both Komaeda and Tsuki was struck.

 **Kettei Tsuki:** But I'm pretty sure I pinned the person who stabbed me into the table…

 **Gundham Tanaka:** Perhaps you were **struck from behind** with the knife at first…

 **Sonia Nevermind:** And then you accidently attacked Komaeda in the dark.

 **Kettei Tsuki:** No, I'm sure I **grabbed my attacker** and pinned them into that table!

 **Kazuichi Soda:** Maybe when you pushed the third guy into the table, you **hit Komaeda on the way**!

 **Akiko Sato:** But where did they go? **The floor broke underneath them** remember?

 **Teruteru Hanamura:** They used the **paint trail to run away** before anyone noticed him!

 **Ibuki Mioda:** Wooo! We proved it!

 _There are two problems here… but what does that latter mean? I need to go with what I'm confident with…!_

 **Hajime Hinata:** You've got that wrong! Tsuki couldn't have been struck from behind.

Break!

* * *

"Think back to the layout of everyone, Tsuki couldn't have been struck from behind since he had his back to the wall!" I said.

"Don't underestimate me!" Tanaka shouted back.

* * *

Rebuttal Showdown!  
Gundham vs Hajime

* * *

"Your argument is invalid and  
your claims are fallible!"

"Fallible? You didn't even let me  
finish explaining!"

"There was no need to, I can  
see how your argument is flawed!"

"…"

"First off, his placing is just an assumption  
off a picture that was taken before the  
actual scene!"

"But Tsuki already confirmed  
that he and Nagito were there."

"Then instead of 'behind,' he was  
struck from the **left**."

"The stab is on his **_right_ arm**. Also the  
knife under the table was on his right!"

"Gah! Then how do you  
explain the contradictions!?"

"It's simple, after getting stabbed,  
Tsuki did indeed **pin his attacker** to the table.  
Both the table and the floor broke, leading them to both  
fall down."

"Kahaha! Go on then my  
servant! I have you lead  
you to the truth!"

"Wha…? Cut the crap, the person on Tsuki's  
right was… **Nagito Komaeda**!"

End!

* * *

"Don't you have proof as well Hajime?" Chiaki asked me.

 _What the hell was that all about…? Whatever, what does Chiaki mean? Proof? Is there anything that shows how this really happened… something that can tell us how this really occurred…_

"I got it!" I shouted at my deductions. "Using the **Wound Examination** we can prove what really happened!"

"Wound… Examination?" Owari asked in confusion.

"Yes." Togami answered. "I knew something like this would happen so I ordered Tsumiki to perform a Wound Examination, where she told us exactly what bruises they had on them."

"D-Does that mean she saw them in the nu-" Soda tried to say but he was interrupted.

"Let's not go down this filthy route." Togami chastened.

"I-I'm a nurse… it's only natural that I get to see…" Tsumiki said shyly.

"Don't go into detail!" Koizumi shouted.

"E-Eek! S-S-Sorry!" Tsumiki apologized.

"Ohohoho, Mikan got see some meat!" Ibuki teased.

"I'm so jealous! Someone stab me!" Hanamura begged.

"Man I can't believe it… it's only day two and both of them got her to see them in the n-" Soda tried to say but was once again interrupted.

"I said we shouldn't and yet we still did. Can't you all be more mature!?" Togami shouted.

"Hehe, maybe I really am lucky… Sorry you had to look at my body…" Nagito said quietly.

"Hm, it's usually the other way around for me…" Tsuki muttered to himself.

"Let's get back on topic." Sato ordered.

"Y-Yeah…" I agreed. "Try imagining what happened in the dark. First Tsuki was stabbed from the night, the cut on his right arm proves this. He then tackled his assailant into the table before the table and floor broke."

"There's also proof that Tsuki did tackle the culprit." Chiaki said.

"Yeah, there is." I agreed. "If Tsuki tackled them onto the table that means he was **on top of them.** So when the floor collapsed, the culprit fell on their back, resulting in large bruising."

"A-Ah!" Tsumiki realised. "K-Komaeda had a large amount of bruising on his back, likely from a drop in height!"

"So it was Komaeda!" Sato spat.

"There's one more piece of evidence Hinata." Togami said. "If Tsuki was on top of Komaeda before the floor broke, he would have had a certain mark."

"That's right." I said, _although why I have to say it for him is beyond me._ "If you're on top of someone, then it isn't too hard to think that while falling the air you fall on your side. Explaining the bruise on his left arm!"

"That's exactly how I hit my arm, and Tsumiki said it was likely from a drop in distance." Tsuki agreed.

"What about Nagito hurting first?" Ibuki asked.

"That was a red herring to confuse us." Togami said.

"Well then, what do you have to say to that Nagito!?" I said as I pointed my finger at him.

"Admit to your guilt!" Sato shouted.

"To think… you _really_ did mean to stab me!" Tsuki said bitterly. "If you having any problems, or contradictions then say so now! Admit it or prove to me that we made a mistake!"

"Aha…" Nagito gave a quiet laugh.

"Be careful." Togami warned.

"Huh?" Saionji asked in surprise.

"Brace your selves, something horrifying is about to show." Togami said before…

"Aha, aha… ahahahaa… aaaaaaahahahahahahaa!" A loud, nasally laugh echoed through the room, full of malice and evil. "All the symbols of Hope… ganging up on me… I… I can't believe it!" He grabbed his shoulders and shivered side to side.

"Th-This is Nagito?" I gasped.

"I... didn't realise he was really like this." Tsuki gritted through his teeth.

"This is worse… then even I suspected." Togami admitted.

"Well then, since you figured it out I'll just admit to it… I set up the black out, planted the knife and stabbed Kettei in the dark. But I pretended to shout in pain first as a red herring!" Nagito finally admitted.

"Why?!" Togami shouted at him.

"Isn't it obvious…" Nagito replied.

"H-He's completely psycho! Do you need more of a reason?" Soda said.

"No, he didn't kill to get off this island." Togami answered. "He doesn't feel remorse for the dead, he has no respect for them."

"O-Of course I do… I love him… for his talents!"

"For his talent?" Sato questioned.

"Yes! You guys… are symbols of Hope! All of you with your amazing talents of hope! I'm so lucky to be in your presence!" Nagito preached.

"You tried to kill me… for the sake of hope…?" Tsuki figured out in disbelief.

"I did… because I yearn for a powerful hope! A hope inside someone that could overcome any despair!" Nagito said insanely.

 _"What the hell man…?" Soda said in shock.  
"Ibuki is slightly… no really terrified!"  
"This asshole is just playing with us!" Kuzuryū shouted.  
"What is that dark malice that emits from him…?" Tanaka gasped._

"A powerful hope needs despair to power through first! And if I die helping for that hope, as a stepping stone… I can accept that I have to die for that to happen!" Nagito preached.

"So you were going to kill me and get caught for your crimes… just so you can die and… empower everyone's hope'?" Tsuki questioned.

"Not just everyone's hope… the Ultimate Absolute Hope! A hope that powerful is what I, no the world, wants. A hope like that…" Nagito then went off into some self-blubbering, the only hearable word was hope.

"What the…" Tsuki muffled before speaking up. "What if this 'hope' just died? They could have been executed!"

"Not possible." Nagito replied instantly. "Because in the end… Hope, always, wins!"

"We aren't getting anywhere with this." Togami interrupted. "We need to get back to the trial."

"But it's obvious that he did it!" Saionji said as she pointed at Nagito.

"No…" Tsuki said through his teeth. "The fact that Nagito tried to kill me… means he likely wasn't behind the poisoning."

"What!?" Sato gasped. "You're still set on defending him?"

"Think about it… if you can just poison the food then why would you risk stabbing someone?" Tsuki asked.

"He's psycho! There's no need to debate this any further!" Soda said.

"Method behind the madness." Tsuki said. "Just because someone is a psychopath doesn't mean their stupid."

"I agree." Sonia said. "Just because one has misconceptions on life doesn't mean their intelligence is mentally handicapped."

"Y-You agree with him…?" Soda said in shock.

"That right… there's no way trash like me could plan something as advanced as a poisoning. All I could do was a shoddy murder attempt." Nagito said.

"Guess you didn't expect me to fight back after getting stabbed." Tsuki said.

"Are you sure about that?" Chiaki questioned.

"What…?" Tsuki replied.

"I think… there's still more we need to discuss. Like the mystery behind the first case, the iron skewer one."

"How is that connected?" Koizumi asked.

"It _is_ connected." Togami replied. "And someone has misspoken, proving their intentions. Do you know who it is Hinata?"

 _The person who misspoke, I caught it a while ago. They knew something they shouldn't have, it's **him** because of **that**._

"You're the only one!" I exclaimed. "Teruteru Hanamura!"

"M-M-Me again!?" Hanamura gasped.

"How did you know that… there was green paint under the floorboards?" I asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Hanamura asked.

"You said before ' _They used the **paint trail to run away** before anyone noticed him!_ ' You couldn't have known that, because there you had no chance to after we noticed the iron skewer." I explained. "The moment we did, Togami kept you in his sights."

"What about during the blackout?" Owari asked. "He coulda seen it then."

"That can't be it, after all he was pinned up on the wall." I replied.

"Indeed he was, his feet didn't even touch the floor, so it was impossible for him to have seen it at all." Sato confirmed. "Unless Togami and he investigated it."

"No, we didn't. I didn't have time to investigate underneath the floorboards, so Hanamura _shouldn't_ know about the green paint that he mentioned before." I said. "So Hanamura, explain!" We all looked at him with our suspicious gaze. He just trembled before us at our blunder.

"Y-Y-Ya got no'in on me! A l'il sli' o' th' ton'ue an ya all a''se me!" Hanamura blurted.

"I think he said, 'Ya got nothing on me! A little slip of the tongue and you all accuse me!'" Monomi translated.

"Ugh, this again!?" Monokuma moaned. "Maaaaan that's old. Ok, I want you to figure it out yourself, asking Teruteru over there will take longer."

"Somehow I don't think he's lying." Kuzuryū admitted.

"Then instead of questioning him, let us figure it out then." Pekoyama said.

"With this new information, we should be able to figure it out." Chiaki said. "If Hanamura hadn't been caught, what would have happened?"

"Let's see…" I thought.

* * *

Rapid Fire Q&A  
 **(You'll understand easily)**

* * *

 **Hajime Hinata:** When was Hanamura planning to use the iron skewer?

 **Chiaki Nanami:** During the blackout?  
 **Akane Owari:** Before the blackout?  
 **Kazuichi Soda:** After the blackout?

 **Hajime Hinata:** It was during the blackout; I did catch Hanamura just before the blackout. Now where was he headed after the blackout?

 **Mikan Tsumiki:** The party room?  
 **Akane Owari:** The bathroom?  
 **Hiyoko Saionji:** The entrance?  
 **Mahiru Koizumi:** The storage room?

 **Hajime Hinata:** It must have been the storage room, that room had a trapdoor lead to underneath the floorboards! Now… how would he have gotten there?

 **Kazuichi Soda:** He moved along the walls?  
 **Peko Pekoyama:** He used the skewer as a sensor?  
 **Gundham Tanaka:** He used the portable stove?

 **Hajime Hinata:** That's it! The portable stove in combination with the fire doors meant he could safely get there without being caught!

Finish!

* * *

"I understand it!" I exclaimed. "After getting to the storage room, Hanamura used the secret passage to get underneath the floorboards! From there he used the pre-prepared **cut out pieces of cloth** to cover himself up from any blood. After that he followed the **green paint** that he placed before and followed it until it led him to under the table, where he planned to stab whoever was about to grab the **green painted knife** that was underneath the table!"

"What the… how long have you known this!?" Soda said in surprise.

"Impressive, you must have figured a lot of this out a while ago." Nagito commended. "But there are still a few missing details. After all, how did Hanamura know about the knife?"

"You told me!" Hanamura shouted.

"Regained your composure, have you?" Tsuki asked.

"…" Hanamura just stayed silent.

"You may as well tell us now." Togami ordered. "After all, you didn't _actually_ kill him… so you aren't going to get punished."

"I… guess… so…" Hanamura finally admitted. "I-I-I saw Nagito plant the knife while Tsuki was out… and he was laughing to himself maniacally. I wasn't sure what to do about it… so I questioned him and he said he was going to kill someone no matter what!"

 _"What"  
"The"  
"Hell?!"_

"Nagito, is this true?!" Togami questioned.

"Of course it is! As I said before, I was going to kill someone no matter what! But… I failed miserably though…" Nagito answered.

"Why?" Sato asked, but not to Nagito. "Why Hanamura, why did you try to kill him? All you had to do was tell someone and something would have been done!"

"You didn't have to go and try to kill him!" Koizumi shouted.

"B-B-But it was to protect you all…" Hanamura begged.

"Ha!" Sato scoffed. "To protect us? By killing him you would have killed us all if you got away with the class trial!"

"…" Hanamura just whimpered.

"You tried to take advantage of the situation Nagito prepped, and kill him." Pekoyama added.

"We're getting off track." Togami reminded. "Hanamura didn't kill Nagito though, he was revealed and caught. There is also one contradiction I have a problem with."

"What is that…?" I asked.

"The carpet, it was blocking the view from under the floorboards to the table. How would Hanamura have known when the knife was taken?" Togami answered.

"Ah!" I had completely forgotten about that.

"That's simple." Tsuki said.

"What?" Togami asked.

"That carpet was put a few minutes before we gathered for Monokuma's explanation about our memories. I had to wait a while because Monomi had it special made to fit exactly the room… weird isn't it?" Tsuki explained.

"Wait…" Hanamura begged. "I-I wasn't finished… someone told me to kill Nagito. They told me about the paint and under the floorboards and the iron skewer trick… It was all to frame me!"

"What!?" We all gasped.

"As if we'd believe that!" Saionji said.

"Who? Who told you?" Togami asked.

"I don't know… they told me through pieces of paper. I got given scrap pieces of notes describing what I should do and how to do it." Hanamura said.

"What the hell!? You could have said this earlier!" Soda shouted.

"I-I was worried you wouldn't believe me!" Hanamura retorted.

"That's so stupid! Even for you!" Saionji spat.

"Why would you follow through someone's orders?" Pekoyama asked.

"T-They promised me… on how to get off this island! They said my diner was in danger, my mom was dying and that our memories had been taken." Hanamura said. "I didn't believe it at first but then… it was true! Monokuma told us about our memories afterwards…!"

"The note!" Togami asked. "Do you still have the note!?"

"Y-Yeah…" Hanamura said. "I hid it… inside the meat on the bone."

"You hid paper, inside the meat!?" Owari gasped.

"T-They told me to burn it… but instead I hid it in case something like this happened." Hanamura said.

"Guahaha!" Monokuma laughed. "While I send a Monokuma to get the meat I want you guys to prepare for voting!"

"B-But we haven't f-figured out w-who poisoned Nidai." Tsumiki said.

"The mastermind behind tonight's events." Togami said. "Someone is behind all this, they knew about Komaeda's murder, they knew about Hanamura's desires, someone has been manipulating everyone here."

"Manipulating!?" A bunch of us gasped.

"That's not it!" Monokuma interrupted. "I want you guys to vote for the **attempted murders** , after all it's still a crime and needs to be punished!"

"P-Punished?" Sonia asked. "But the rules state only-"

"Are you sure?" Monokuma asked. "I added a new rule since this murder, did anyone check on it?"

 **Rule 14: Any attempts at murder will be punished less severely but still severely enough to maybe kill you! Similar rules apply as if they were the blackened.**

"You could have told us about this!" Kuzuryū shouted.

"Well it's not my fault you didn't read the rules!" Monokuma goaded.

"How many people are we voting for?" Togami asked.

"Three!" Monokuma replied. "Who tried to kill Kettei Tsuki, Nagito Komaeda… and who tried to kill Teruteru Hanamura!"

"Who tried to kill me!?" Hanamura gasped.

"Shouldn't it be only Komaeda and Tsuki?" I asked.

"No, no, no!" Monokuma chastened. "Here are the rules around attempted murder: **'You _almost_ committed murder, but didn't due to some other variable.**' That's how I define it!"

"That isn't a proper definition!" Koizumi argued.

"Ah but it's my definition!" Monokuma replied. "None of you asked what it was, so it wasn't set in stone until now!"

"That's not fair!" Kuzuryū shouted.

"Said the yakuza!" Monokuma replied.

"Why would you phrase it like that…?" I heard Chiaki murmur.

"Hold on…" Tsuki asked. "What are the rules on… accidental murder?"

"Accidental murder is still crime!" Monokuma replied. "Meaning _accidental attempted murder_ is still a crime!"

"T-That's insane!" Tsuki shouted back. I looked over at his face, it had gone pale white at the news.

"Now get back to discussing!" Monokuma ordered. "Once you've voted and you've gotten it correct, I'll reveal the contents of the meat!"

"So we have to go through this first to get our answers." Togami analysed.

"Well we already know who tried to kill Tsuki." Sato said.

"I had no idea I was going to be punished after my pathetic failure!" Nagito said in excitement.

"And Hanamura admitted to trying to kill Nagito." I said.

"W-Wait! I didn't know this would happen! I was manipulated by the mastermind!" Hanamura begged.

"Manipulation spaliculation!" Monokuma shouted. "Unless you're a tool with no free will it's your own fault! And don't go stealing that line of reasoning!"

"N-N-No!" Hanamura begged.

"But who tried to kill Hanamura…?" Pekoyama asked.

"The mastermind?" Koizumi suggested.

"Nope!" Monokuma denied. "That person is the _real_ killer… oops I dropped the hint a bit early! Anyway figure out who tried to kill Teruteru!"

"When was Hanamura's pathetic life in danger?" Tanaka asked.

"I-I-I dunno…!" Hanamura answered.

 _Who tried to kill Hanamura…? I don't really know…_

"Th-Think about it cl-clearly!" Tsuki said to everyone. "If a v-version of tonight's event went different… so that Hanamura died, who w-would have done it…?"

 _How would have Hanamura have died tonight? Think about it!_

* * *

Suggestive Thoughts

* * *

 _Murder_

 _Attempted_

 _Stabbing_

 _Collapsing Floor_

 _Caught_

 _Accidental_

 _Under Floor_

 _Not stopped?_

 _What would have happened… If Hanamura got under that table?_

* * *

"I got it!" I shouted… but I didn't want to say the answer.

"Say it!" Tsuki shouted at me. "Accident Attempted Murder is still murder according to Monokuma! So say it!" I looked at him in the eyes, he was shivering, afraid, angry, but yet he roared at me to say the truth!

"It was… you Kettei Tsuki!" I finished.

"What the!?" It took most people off guard, they looked at me for an explanation.

"I'll say it." Tsuki said. "If Hanamura hadn't been stopped, he would have gone underneath the floorboards during the blackout. Now what happened to the floor?"

"AH!" Everyone understood, it collapsed.

"But you didn't cause it to collapse!" Koizumi argued.

"I didn't… not intentionally." Tsuki answered. "But the floor broke under the pressure of me tackling Nagito into it, **crushing anyone under it**. It was an accident… and under the right circumstances it would have been murder. That's what Monokuma meant by **'Accident Attempted Murder.'** "

…

* * *

…

…

 _This was insane, nothing made sense. This was all Monokuma's fault…_

"This is so fucked up!" Kuzuryū shouted in annoyance.

"That's my specialty!" Monokuma said. "But then again, it's _you guys'_ fault for attempting murder!"

"Ngh… I don't like it. But we have our answers for this vote." Sato gritted.

"No wait! We cannot do this…! To vote for three of our friends like this, for a murder they did not commit! We cannot do that!" Sonia argued.

"I… don't want to do it either." Koizumi added on.

"Th-This is too cruel." Tsumiki said.

"But…" I tried to say. "We have to vote… otherwise _we all die!_ "

"Exactly!" Monokuma said. "The rules do say: ' **Similar rules apply as if they were the blackened.'** So you all better get voting!"

"I won't do it!" Sonia argued. "I don't like the idea of thinking a friend killed another friend… but to vote three innocent friends to death for a crime not committed is too harsh!"

"Friend?" Monokuma questioned. "You've only known each other for two days!"

"But… Tsuki is completely innocent. Accidental Attempted Murder is a lie. I abstain." Sonia said. "Even if it kills me."

"M-Miss Sonia…!" Soda tried to argue but couldn't think of anything.

"I'll… follow that." Koizumi said.

"M-Me too…" Tsumiki agreed.

"You can't do that!" Sato argued. "Two of them deliberately tried to commit murder, that is a crime, even in our laws!"

"Accidental Attempted Murder isn't though…" I said. "I feel bad enough trying to condemn a killer, and even worse for this attempted murder stuff…" _But you can argue Tsuki is innocent… can I really send all three of them to death, knowing one of them is being accused of something as stupid as 'Accidental Attempted Murder'? Can I really live with myself…?_

"H-Hold on… two of them are murderers you know!?" Saionji argued. "That Tsuki kid was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I hate to admit it…" Pekoyama started to say. "But… sacrifice an innocent to save everyone else."

"I-I don't want to make such a decision man…" Soda sobbed.

"Nrgh…" Tanaka just grumbled.

"Hmmm, I wonder where everyone's Hope lie? Save an innocent friend? Or sacrifice him with the two who tried to murder someone!?" Nagito said excitedly.

"Oh baby now this is some de-e-licious despair!" Monokuma chuffed.

 _No one knows what to say, there isn't much to say. There is no 'right' answer in this scenario right…? We have to kill an innocent to save us all… The despair got to most of us… choosing like and death like this…_

* * *

"Everyone!" Tsuki shouted. "Was it not moments ago we all agreed to travel the path where we would condemn our classmate to move on?"

"B-But this is different." Sonia argued.

"I know it is… but I accept it." Tsuki said. "You're all unsure on your decision because you all think I'm innocent, being accused of 'Accidental Attempted Murder.' But I want you all to know I don't mind. in fact, I'm _happy_ it was me. If one of us innocents was going to be punished then I I'll gladly accept the role, knowing it wasn't any of you instead! So I want you all to vote!"

 _That's insane… that speech is completely insane!_

"But…" Sonia tried to argue.

"It's not all Despair." Togami said. "The 14th rule states that it ' **maybe kills you.'** There is a chance someone will survive."

"Not a very big one. Puhuhu!" Monokuma said.

"Well I'm resistant to death I'll have you know." Tsuki said. "After all I did get stabbed! Now everyone, I want you to cast your votes!"

"We shouldn't lose hope…" Chiaki reminded. "If there is a chance they can survive then I think we should take it."

"I suppose… that is an option." Koizumi said.

"I don't like it…" Sonia argued. "But… if you really are ok with it then…" Sonia tried to say but she was having difficulty.

"Alright **,** alright!" Monokuma said ecstatically. "Let's get this voting business down! Everyone pull your lever!"

I pulled it down, three blank boxes came up. I selected the faces of **Nagito Komaeda, Teruteru Hanamura and… and… Kettei Tsuki.**

"Ding, ding, ding! The results are in…" Monokuma announced. "And you are all correct! Nagito, Teruteru and Kettei were indeed the culprits! Oh wait, you weren't all correct. Teruteru didn't vote for himself, even though both Nagito and Kettei did!"

"You… stuck to your words." Koizumi said.

"Of course I did. Although I think Nagito had some different reasons." Tsuki said.

"Aha! I can't even begin to imagine the amount of hope that will power through our deaths!" Nagito said…

* * *

 **Trial Recess!**

* * *

Recess was called… meaning it was time. Three hooks from the darkness of the room came flying out and grabbed the necks of Nagito, Tsuki and Hanamura. All three of them were dragged away into the distance, leaving behind only the screams from Hanamura, the maniacal laugh of Nagito and the determined look from Tsuki. This… wasn't fair at all!

I look up at the monitor, it looked like Monokuma had prepared a large amount of coal on the floor. The room was mostly empty otherwise, apart from the metal bar that hung horizontally from the ceiling. Then… oh god. The three 'culprits' Tsuki, Nagito and Hanamura hung from the bar with their arms. Monokuma then approached the coal, he picked to of the up and struck them together, leading to a roaring fire spread throughout the room. If anyone let go of the bar, not only would they fall a large distance, but they would be trapped in the fire until they burned to death. All three of them hung there for their life.

"You wanna save them?" Monokuma asked. "Well then you best figure out who the mastermind behind this murder is otherwise their going to cook to death if you take too long! Guaaaaaaaahahahahaha!"

* * *

 **I did say I would spice things up a bit, hope you like it. Reviews are always appreciated and help me work quicker. :)**


	5. Chapter 4 - The Mastermind?

**Please read until the end before get angry or anything at the story, a lot of stuff happens in this chapter. Also I would like to remind everyone that just because a character thinks something doesn't mean it's correct, they are simply displaying their current thoughts.**

* * *

Chapter 4 – The… Mastermind?

* * *

"Soooo, you enjoying the show my little sister Monomi?"

"Boohoo, this isn't a fair trial at all! You've dropped your standards Monokuma!"

"Oi! That's onichan to you! ***POW*** "

"It still hurts when you punch me onichan!"

"That's because it's supposed to! Now what do you mean 'drop my standards'?"

"You aren't just satisfied with one execution anymore! Now your killing my students because of what you call attempted murder! You're sooo cruel."

"Huh? Who said I was going to execute 'em? No, no! This was just some encouragement to get them moving along, of course how burnt they get will be the result of how long it took the others. Just because the cast this time is pretty big doesn't mean I'm just going to kill a bunch of them instantly… on purpose."

"What? So can they really can die?"

"Who knows… but if they do, it isn't my fault."

"You're so cruel!"

"Yeah, yeah. The whole point of this attempted murder is to help motivate everyone to commit a murder properly. I don't want to see anymore half measures! I'm just encouraging people to get the job done properly."

"I can't believe everything you're doing…"

"Well whatever! I'm heading over to our attempted murder criminals and get an on sight interview. Monokuma, away!"

* * *

 _Here I am, hanging on a mental bar above a floor full of flames. A crazed psychopath is in front of me and a crying idiot who attempted murder is behind me… Anyone that falls won't be living very long. God I wish this was a dream._

"Heya folks, how are you 'hanging'?" Monokuma asked as he walked up to us on tall stilts.

"Long enough!" I shout back.

"You all don't look so good." Monokuma said.

"You'll never shatter a symbol of hopes spirit!" Nagito said back but…

"P-P-Please let me go!" Hanamura begged pathetically. I had tried getting him to calm down before but it hadn't led anywhere.

"I would say that 'symbol of hope's spirit' has been shattered." Monokuma teased.

"But once he gets out of this, his hope will be much stronger!" Nagito argued. "That is _if_ Hanamura gets out of here of course. But that's not the point… since his spirit has been broken that's shown to me that Teruteru is not the Absolute Hope I'm looking for, nor can he become one. So thank you for showing me this Monokuma."

"Absolute Hope should be the last of your worries." Monokuma mocked.

"Never! Even if I die here, my death will just go towards helping the cause. Of course someone meaningless like me won't be much use anyway." Nagito said.

"Well you sure got yourself in a pickle Kettei." Monokuma said to me. "If you hadn't offered to help Nagito clean that old building, you wouldn't have been caught up in all this. The nice ones always end up dying early, usually the second chapter or so."

"I'm more resistant to death then you think." I said.

"Well it's your lucky day today!" Monokuma said. "If you you're feeling itchy to kill, feel free to throw someone else off free of charge, no trial or anything. Of course that won't get you off this island but its murder free of charge! It's sooo easy that you're practically stealing the murder!"

"Even now you want us to kill each other?" I spat. "Whatever, what do we have to do?"

"Huh? Do what?" Monokuma replied.

"Do to survive? There's a chance we live through the fire and smoke; the rules say we might not die. How?!" I asked again.

"That isn't for you to decide." Monokuma answered. "Once the trial is over and if they figure out who's behind everything that happened tonight you'll all be given a way out. I'll unlock the door between here and the class trial. That is, _if you can still walk through it._ Upupupu."

"What if they don't figure it out?" Nagito asked.

"Well that would mean you all stay here and burn. You won't even be able to see who the mastermind is… does that fill you with Despair?" Monokuma asked.

"So we're just supposed to just hang here until then!?" I shouted, ignoring his question.

"Well you could let go if you want." Monokuma suggested. "The fire down below is more comfortable then it looks. Anyway I need to get the class trial back up, so I'll see you later. Alive or not." And with those words he left us three to hang for our lives.

"Hey Kettei, there's something I want to ask you before I go." Nagito asked.

"H-Hold on there, before you go? Surely you can hang on for longer!" I replied.

"Are you the mastermind behind tonight's events?" Nagito asked, ignoring what I said.

"The manipulator? No I'm not the one… and neither are you I assume."

"How unfortunate… I didn't think it was you. Too bad though, I figured you weren't the Absolute Hope either."

"Hope…" I muttered the words. _Hope is a feeling, like Despair. A human feeling that helps us live our life… and yet the boy I called my friend seemed to dedicate his entire life, and the life of others, to it. I've seen a fair share of psychos in my time… but this definitely tops them. But… why? Everyone has a reason for what they do, whether it's 'good' or 'bad' is another thing._ "Nagito… what is so special about hope?"

"Isn't it obvious? Hope is the reason you and the other Ultimates exist! With your talents you can spread Hope across the world, destroying any despair in the way!"

"Then why did you try to kill me!? I am an Ultimate chosen by Hopes Peak Academy."

"Because everyone would despair over your death… there would be so much despair for everyone. And then… they would recover, with their hopes shining even brighter!"

"What if I was this Absolute Hope you keep talking about? Then you would have killed it!" I said, of course this conversation made no sense to me but I think I was getting somewhere.

"But you're not full of Hope. You don't have hope inside of you." Nagito spat back. "You aren't hoping Kettei! You're despairing! I hate the Despair inside of you!" _Despairing… haha. I guess I am. May as well come clean about it, this may be my finals moments of life._

"You're right Nagito. I am despairing. I have been for my whole life. You've got a problem?" I replied sternly.

"If you overcame that despair you would be such a powerful symbol of Hope! That is your job as an Ultimate."

"Wh-What are you two talking about?" Hanamura asked in confusion.

"I'm sorry Nagito, but that isn't how I live my life. I don't 'overcome' my problems nor do I run from them. I live with them and use them to my advantage, that's who I am and who I always will be! My despair is what makes my talent!" I said back. _Was that even a smart thing to say? Is he going to try and kill me…? If so he's in for a surprise._

"What talent? You haven't shown anyone your talent. Working hard doesn't make you an Ultimate, something else does. So what is it?" Nagito asked.

"…I can't explain it. But as an example I can say this… I can hang off this pole until my arms rip off… _literally._ "

"Woah… too bad such a talent has to go to waste. Whatever, my role as a stepping stone has been fulfilled. It's time for me to accept my fate…" Nagito forewarned.

"What!? What was your role Nagito!?"

"Someone used me, and you, and Teruteru. Whoever they are… to think they would go to such distance to try and get off this island! I'm sure their brimming with hope…" Nagito then shuddered before I notice his grab on the pole loosen. "The other Ultimates aren't going to be able to figure it out, the mastermind behind tonight has won. Meaning this is good bye." And then he let go.

"You idiot!" I shouted at him as he slowly dropped. I let go of the pole with one hand and grabbed his hood. "You're not allowed to die just like that!"

"What are doing? I have no more reason to live, Absolute Hope has been created. It is unfortunate I won't be able to see who it from up here, but that's what selfless devotion calls for. I have nothing left here. A worthless stepping stone like me has fulfilled his duty, that is all I have ever wanted." Nagito said. I started to feel my right arm strain a lot at holding us both up.

"Nagito, you tried to kill me, you scared Hanamura into attempting a killing, you said you hated me and you're willing to sacrifice the lives of others in the name of 'hope'." I said. "Most people would drop you right here, back into the depths of hell from whence you came from. You deserve to burn Nagito Komaeda."

Nagito just looked into my eyes silently.

"Hahaha! That was pretty poetic don't you think?" I asked, slightly hysterical. "I should have added, 'but you're my friend, I have to help you no matter what!' That would have come straight out of some video game don't you think?"

"What… what are you doing?" Nagito asked in confusion.

"Listen up, that was just a joke. I'm not saving you because you're my friend or for any equally _unrealistic_ reason. We did only meet yesterday… with our current memories. The only reason I'm saving you is because… well just because you're crazy doesn't mean I can just let you die."

"I really am lucky, to think someone actually views my life as worth saving." Nagito said to himself.

"Hanamura help me pull Nagito up." I asked before swinging Nagito towards Hanamura. He had finally stopped crying and just looked at me aghast.

"…What did you say?" Hanamura asked, regaining some of his demeanour. He spoke slow and calm for once… _does that mean…?_ _Oh crap._

"D-Don't do anything rash now! If we're going to survive this, we need to work together." I said slowly. _Of course I don't really believe that. All I have to do is hang here until they figure out who did it,_ _ **if**_ _they figure out who did it. There is no teamwork needed, but I'm not about to let anyone die… unless it's necessary._

"It's his fault you know that we're in this mess." Hanamura said. _My arm is starting to strain really hard._ "He's the reason we're all here. Why are you saving him?"

"Because you can't just kill someone because of that!" I argued back.

"Why not? That psycho tried to kill and tricked me as well. It's all his fault!" Hanamura's voice was now raised with anger.

"Are you saying _we should kill off psychopaths that try to kill other people_?" I asked.

"Of course we should!" Hanamura said. _He took the bait._

"Ha! As if!" I laughed at him. " _You_ tried to kill Nagito because _you_ were willing to sacrifice everyone for your own personal desires. I think _that_ qualifies as a psychotic, don't you?"

"I-I-I was m-m-manipulated!" Hanamura said in defence but it was too late.

"So was Nagito, by the mastermind, remember?" I snarled. "Oh wait, do you have selected memory now? You don't want to give psychopaths the same respect you have!" I then changed my voice into one of mockery. "Oh look at me, I'm a fancy cook. All those crazy guys are less deserving then me. They try to kill someone and they should be burnt at the stake! Oh but when it's me, it was all just a mistake! Please believe me." I then switched back to my serious voice. "Is that it, huh? Is that who you are Teruteru Hanamura? A selfish coward who pushes blame on others?" _At my speech Hanamura recoiled, not very far considering the situation we're in._

"S-Stay away from me, you're just as crazy as him!" He said in response.

"See? Once again you're running away!" I shouted at him. "Help me pull Nagito up right now!"

"N-No!" Teruteru said. _I've lost most of my respect for him now. Slowly… even if I tear a muscle I'm going to do this! I shuffled my hand, approaching Teruteru slowly while Nagito hung slightly. I couldn't read his face, surprise? Shocked? Inspired?_

"Teruteru, you pull Nagito back up right now and I'll forget everything you've just said. No one _has to die_ here." I said. _His response was one I did not expect, he turned around with a face full of anger. He lifted his leg slightly and kicked hard._

 **Bam!**

"You…" I didn't have words to express my feelings. _Teruteru had just kicked my hand, the one that was holding Nagito. I didn't even recoil in pain and my grip on Nagito didn't waver._ "Is that it? If there's a problem, you just want to kill it?" I spat.

"Get away from me!" Hanamura shouted before kicking again.

 **Bam!**

And again.

 **Bam! Bam!**

He got slower.

 **Bam… Bam.**

"Are you done?" I asked. _My left hand was throbbing and hurting badly, but I hadn't let go of Nagito. I would definitely be getting black bruises there, funny, I didn't think he had it in him. I thought he was just a coward, that he couldn't do it, he couldn't actually kill someone. But he had just tried to kill Nagito, right here. Not for any reason I could see either, this wouldn't get him off the island. No, he did this out of pure evil, there was nothing positive to get out of this. I never threatened to kill him or anything of the sorts. This person was capable of murder and no doubt was going to kill someone that night if he wasn't stopped._ "You're a murderer. You tried to kill someone before, and you just did now." Teruteru just stayed silent.

"This is exciting!" Nagito exclaimed. "Here I am, watching Hope versus Despair before my very eyes! Will Kettei's Despair convince Teruteru to keep me alive? Or will Teruteru overcome the Despair and muster the Hope to kill me?"

"Who's side on you on?" I asked in surprise.

"The side of Hope of course." Nagito replied.

"I'm trying to save your life! Surely that is hope." I argued.

"Someone like me isn't worth saving, no Hope comes from saving trash." Nagito replied. "I want to see if Teruteru can overcome your Despair, then his Hope will become more powerful!"

"You don't even know what my Despair is!" I said. _This argument is pretty nuts._ "Despair isn't always a bad thing!"

"No, that's wrong!" Nagito argued. "Despair is despicable and should be wiped out, Teruteru kill me now!"

"You see? He is insane!" Hanamura shouted at me. "Why are you defending him!?"

"Just because someone is insane doesn't we can just kill them! It's your own fault that you tried to kill Nagito and may die right here! You can't pin all the blame on a psychopath! Take responsibility!"

"Don't let him deceive you Teruteru." Nagito warned. "As a symbol of Hope you must do anything to defeat Despair! Prove Kettei wrong and kill me!"

"B-Both of you stop it!" Hanamura begged in fear before…

 **BAM!**

… _? He kicked me harder than I expected… My grip on Nagito just released._

"No!" I shouted as I saw him drop. _He looked me in the eyes as he dropped, his cold demented eyes. It was hard to sympathise with something like that… but nevertheless he was a human. He only laughed as he fell._

…

 _Teruteru just looked at me, his eyes were blank. Was that regret? Probably not… not that it makes a difference. I should throw him down there, he said that we should try to kill of psychopaths that kill other people. He did just kill someone, with little reason. 'Because I tried to kill him?' 'Because he tricked me into trying to kill him?' Ha, those are funny excuses._ "Teruteru, are you ready?"

"R-Ready for what?" He asked nervously.

"To stick to your words obviously." I said matter-of-factly. "You agreed that psychopaths should be killed if they killed someone. Well it's time you kept to that."

"W-What are you talking about?" Teruteru panicked.

"Am I lying? Is that not what you agreed to? Just like we all agreed to have the killer among us executed. Those are the words we spoke, there's no taking them back now, Teruteru. You threw Nagito into the pit of fire and now it's your turn. Nothing complicated about it."

"Y-Y-You're going to k-kill me?" Teruteru stuttered.

"I thought about it… it's a possibility, one that I would only ever resort to in dire needs. So no, I'm not going kill you, in fact I'm not going to touch at all. Especially when you need it."

"Eh?" He was confused.

"You're trembling Teruteru, something tells me you're going to fall pretty soon. You're not very strong, are you?" I stared into his eyes, _fear._ _That's all I saw inside him, fear. Fear of death, fear of falling, fear of life… and fear of me._ "I'm getting out of here if they figure out who the mastermind is, I can hold onto this pole for a _very_ long time. Longer then you can ever imagine, who knows, maybe you and Nagito will be alive?"

"H-Huh?" Now he was getting worried.

"After all, you can survive that fall with maybe a broken bone or two. The real question is how long you can survive the fire burning down there? I have no actual idea but I would say you'd drop unconscious due to the smoke after 5-minutes and probably burn up to death soon after."

"S-Stop it!" He begged. _But I had lost all respect I had for him._

"So now I'm at a dilemma. You see that door that Monokuma said would open if they caught the mastermind? The reason he said we have to walk through it means we need to be conscious and able to walk to be able to live through this and get out of this pit of fire. Now I know that I can last long enough and that I'm strong enough to do it, but I don't want anyone to die. So I was thinking of helping someone get out."

"…" Now he just looked at me in silent fear.

"Unfortunately I won't be able to help Nagito anymore, leaving you as my only option. Oh, and by the way, I lied. This isn't a dilemma for me, I'm not saving your cold blooded murderous hypocritical ass." I said.

"Wh-Wh-What did I ever do to you? We barely talked at all… why are you threatening me like this? Who are you!?"

"I tried you know; I didn't want to have it to be like this. But if you aren't willing to change then this is how it has to be. Goodbye Teruteru Hanamura." I said before his arms started shaking at higher speeds, he was about to give out anytime now.

"Y-You, you're just like hi-" Those were the last words I heard before his arms gave out. _Next was terrifying scream as he fell, before the thump of his small body on the floor. Now was the mixture of his screams with the crackling of the fire._ _I killed him… without even touching him. I could have saved him, but not after what he did. No regrets, move forward and live with it. This isn't good for my sanity._

 _Please hurry up everyone, even though I have absolutely no idea who's behind all this. Our lives are on the line here. Ha! As if they can hear my inner plea for help! No pointing in hoping but there's also no point in not hoping._

* * *

Trial Resume

P.O.V. Hajime Hinata

* * *

"Now you all better get back to finding who the killer is!" Monokuma said before pointing at the monitor display Nagito, Tsuki and Hanamura hanging on the metal bar above a pit of flames. "Otherwise those three will be cooked and fried! Oh and by the way you can't talk to them anymore until after the trial, as you can see they're kinda busy."

"This is so very cruel…" Sonia desponded.

"Well let's just hurry and find out who the killer is already!" Owari said.

"We shouldn't rush it though." Pekoyama warned. "I don't need to remind you what happens if we choose wrong."

"Monokuma." Togami called. "Can the traitor be one of those three who attempted murder?"

"Hm, I have to be fair about this in all ways." Monokuma replied. "Meaning I can't be allowed to narrow down the killer at all. The only hint you're getting is that the mastermind is behind all the events tonight."

"So it could still be anyone then." Sato said.

"Not entirely." Togami countered. "To be able to plan and execute all these events mean that the manipulator would have to be very intelligent."

"Well then it can't be Owari!" Saionji pointed out.

"Hey Monokuma, shouldn't you be telling us something?" Chiaki called.

 _That's right, Monokuma said he would tell us…  
_ "What was inside the meat on the bone?" I asked.

"Well here, you, go!" Monokuma said as he threw down small sheets of greasy paper at us. I took a close look at them. On one side of each sheet was a neat set of instructions while the other side had a different handwriting.

* * *

 _Note 1, Side A: Someone is going to die tonight, the party is a set up to kill someone and get away with it. If you do not take action, we will all be executed. Write your reply on the other side of this note and leave it in the storage room._

 _Note 1, Side B: Who are you? Who's planning on killing someone? How do you know all this?_

 _Note 2, Side A: I'm here to help you, I know that your diner and your mother is in danger. I have nothing for me outside of here but you do. If you do not believe me then think back to the pictures we got of our broken homes. Your mother's life is at risk here, be careful and keep an eye on Komaeda._

 _Note 2, Side B: Komaeda is insane and trying to kill someone! How do you know all this? Is momma's life really in danger?_

 _Note 3, Side A: Yes, it is. Monokuma will reveal to us that our memories have been lost before the party, that will prove my point. Hide an iron skewer in some meat in the kitchen, during the party the lights will go out. From there you should grab the weapon and head to the hidden passageway under the floorboards, I have paved out a way in glow in the dark paint, at the end of it use your weapon to stab through the floorboards and kill Komaeda when he goes for the knife._

 _Note 3, Side B: I don't trust you, why are you helping me and who are you?_

 _Note 4, Side A: We're running out of time, this is your only chance to get off the island and save your mother. Burn these notes now, this is my last message. You have to get off this island._

* * *

"To think he actually followed these orders. What a fool." Tanaka said.

"Why? Why would Hanamura do this?" Koizumi questioned in annoyance.

"He was scared." Togami answered. "He was unsure at once but the mastermind knew he was worried for his mother and used that against him. After Monokuma told us all that we had lost our memories Hanamura thought everything he was told was true. He followed these murders out of pure fear."

"But how did they know what Monokuma would say?" Chiaki asked. "Did he tell them?"

"Nope! The moment this Killing Trip started I told everyone at the same time. Otherwise that would be spoiling." Monokuma said.

"Then how did the manipulator know all this information?" Pekoyama asked.

"Maybe they can see into the future?" Ibuki suggested.

"It isn't anything as ridiculous as that." Togami said. "Monokuma said 'the moment this Killing Trip started.' Meaning they knew beforehand."

"Beforehand?" I questioned. _How could they know before all this happened…? Does that mean…_ "Are you saying that the manipulator is the traitor?"

"That would explain it." Kuzuryū confirmed. "I knew it; we do have some fucking traitors!"

"A singular traitor to be specific." Sato countered. "Monokuma said there was no accomplice in this murder."

"Cor-rect!" Monokuma answered. "Just because two of you are traitors doesn't mean that they worked together."

"So we really do have a traitor..." Sonia said depressingly. "To think two of us would work for an organisation known as World Ender…"

"S-Something d-doesn't add up though…" Tsumiki said. "Why wouldn't the traitors w-work together…?"

"That's obvious." Kuzuryū said. "Since World Ender put us on this fucking island that means both traitors are protected. They'll be able to get off when this is over."

"That's a very suspicious thing to say! Only the traitor would know such a thing!" Soda accused.

"Wha- What the hell did you just say?!" Kuzuryū shouted back.

"Wrong!" Monokuma interrupted. "Only one person can get off this island! Everyone else will be executed, even if they're traitors."

"That would mean even the traitors are against each other." Tanaka said.

"So the other traitor might not have known anything about this…" Chiaki said.

"So since one of the traitors is the murderer, that means the other traitor would know who it is." Togami deducted.

"Well can't they just tell us then? Aren't there lives at risk as well?" Owari asked.

"Well they aren't going to admit it!" Saionji retorted. "Otherwise we would just tie them up for trapping us here!"

"You saying that has only reduced the chances of them admitting to it." Pekoyama said.

"B-But are they really going to die b-before admitting it?" Tsumiki questioned.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that too." Koizumi said.

"I think they might." Sato said. "All we know about them is that they work for World Ender, who destroyed the world. I don't think them killing or ratting on one another is out of the question."

"Th-This is sooo messed up." Soda said.

"Then why haven't they admitted to it?" Owari asked.

"The traitor probably considered that." Togami said. "Meaning that they must have done something to keep them quiet. Or they want us to figure out who the mastermind is so they don't have to reveal themselves."

"Are we really making the right assumptions?" I questioned. "All we have is information Monokuma has told us…"

"Maybe your saying that because you're the traitor!" Soda accused.

"I think this is a little fishy as well." Chiaki said. "We don't know much about the traitor or who they are. So I think we should focus on who planted the poison as a priority."

"But that is going to take longer." Sato countered. "All we have to do is convince the traitor to give the other traitor up and we're done here."

"Also we still have Tsuki, Hanamura and Komaeda hanging for their lives. If we don't hurry they'll…" Koizumi warned.

"But there are so many mysteries we need to figure out with this trial." I argued. "Surely you can see something is off about this trial. Three of classmates have been taken away so we rush the decision without being able to interrogate them, a mysterious poison suddenly appears and someone planned to make three of our classmates attempt a murder on each other? There is definitely something strange about this trial!"

"Hey! There is nothing strange about it!" Monokuma shouted. "This is a completely normal trial! Nothing is strange at all!"

"We don't have a choice though." Sato argued. "If you want to drag this out and uncover every mystery then those three are going to die." Sato then pointed at the monitor, it now displayed Tsuki holding Nagito up by his hood, they were talking to Hanamura about something. "I don't care much about Komaeda or Hanamura, but if Tsuki isn't the traitor or the manipulator then his innocent blood will be on your hands simply because you wanted to uncover everything."

"I…" I trailed off. _What am I supposed to say? Of course something is wrong with this trial but if I drag this out then those three are going to die…_

"I understand your concern Hinata." Togami said. "But right now we have to find out who the real killer is as efficiently as possible, otherwise the body count increases. I won't let anyone else die."

"F-Fine." I conceded.

"Good, now I have a question for Monokuma." Togami said. "Where did the Monoquinine come from? You never told us anything about it before."

"Puhuhu, it _is_ odd isn't it?" Monokuma said. "I'll give you all a hint. The Monoquinine is a very special poison where you can alter it to either paralyse and/or kill someone. But to makes things simple, in this case it was made to kill. This poison is hidden on the island in a very secret place, only someone with prior knowledge can access it. That's all I'm going to say."

"This proves that they are indeed the traitor. Now as I was saying, the killer must have found out a way to keep the other traitor from talking." Togami explain. "Now who can't talk?"

"The three attempted murderers and Nidai." I answered.

"No way! Coach was not the traitor!" Owari fought back.

"It makes sense, kill him so he doesn't talk." Kuzuryū said.

"Are ya listening to me? I said it couldn't be him!" Owari argued.

"Hmph, how can you be sure?" Kuzuryū questioned. "Did you know him before all this?"

"…No, but I said it isn't him!" Owari replied.

"We can't eliminate the possibility then." Sato said. "But we should also consider everyone else as well."

"What about Komaeda, Tsuki and Hanamura?" Togami asked. "In what ways are they suspicious?"

"They all spent a lot of time at the abandoned building, meaning they all could have pulled off this crime with the most ease." Tanaka answered.

"Can one of them really be the manipulator though? Why would anyone of them try to kill someone, even though they set up a poisoning?" Koizumi asked.

"Th-That does seem unrealistic." Tsumiki asked. "D-Does that mean Nidai was the other traitor…?"

"No it doesn't!" Owari roared back.

"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to say something s-so stupid!" Tsumiki squealed.

"Either way, I still don't think we have enough information." Chiaki said. "We aren't going to figure out who killed Nidai like this… I think."

"If the traitor hasn't spoken now, then I find it hard to think that they would talk now." I said. "Regardless of whether Nida is the other traitor or not. We aren't figuring anything out like this."

"You're right…" Koizumi agreed.

"We're still wasting time, soon it's going to be _us_ executed." Saionji threatened.

"I don't get it…" Togami muttered. "Why is this so elaborate…? This doesn't make any sense…"

"I think we need to try looking at this from a different angle." Chiaki suggested. "If we think through what happened that night we might find our answer."

"Yeaaah, Ibuki still has no idea what happened that night." Ibuki said.

"Hinata go through what we currently know." Togami ordered. I was about to complain but lives were on the line.

"Ok well first we know that this somewhat started with the party idea. By suggesting the idea that we hold the party in the old building, Nagito was able to set up for his attempted murder by hiding a knife under the table and rigging the ACs and the irons so that a blackout would occur." I explained.

"Apart from it being a bad plan there are no problems, carry on." Togami said.

"However during this, Nagito was caught by Hanamura and told him about his plans to kill someone. This confirmed what he had been told in the notes and he decided to go with it by hiding an iron skewer in the kitchen and use the blackout to prepare and kill Nagito from under the floorboards." I explained.

"Hold it." Chiaki interrupted. "There's a problem with that, the large carpet that Tsuki placed would have stopped this murder."

"We already mentioned that. The carpet was rolled out at the very end by Tsuki." Kuzuryū said harshly.

"I know… but since this note seemed intent of having Hanamura kill Nagito, what do you think the manipulator would have done when they noticed the carpet would have stopped it?" Chiaki asked.

"That's right, that carpet screwed up his plan." Soda said.

"As did Hinata uncovering the truth." Sato mentioned.

"W-Well, if we want to f-find out what the manipulator would have done… d-don't we need to find out what they w-would have gained from having Hanamura kill Komaeda?" Tsumiki asked.

"That's a good point, why did they want Hanamura to try and kill Komaeda?" Koizumi agreed.

"Perhaps they wanted to pin this on him?" Tanaka suggested. "By making the cook kill someone, and having Nidai die of poison in the food, we would have accused Hanamura of killing him."

"So this was all a trap set by the killer." I summarised. "To manipulate Hanamura and get away with his own murder."

"Monokuma, what are the rules regarding double murder?" Chiaki asked.

"Hey, hey! You have to wait for the third trial for that. I'm not spoiling anything until it happens!" Monokuma said.

"You're so useless!" Saionji said.

"Sticks and stones will ruffle my fur but your words will never fluff them." Monokuma replied.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Monomi replied.

"Back on topic." Koizumi interrupted. "So what did the killer plan to do after they noticed the carpet had been placed?"

"It was likely the poison had already been placed at that point, since the carpet was placed just before Monokuma called us all to the park where after that we went straight to the party." I explained. "So someone was going to die by it no matter what."

"Meaning the killer wouldn't have been able to pin this murder on someone else as easily." Pekoyama said.

"But we did end up thinking it was Hanamura." Chiaki informed.

"That right, because I was suspicious about the meat on the bone." I said.

"So the killer's plan to get Hanamura to kill Komaeda was foiled by two people." Sonia said proudly. "By Tsuki's interior design sense and Hinata's suspicion!"

"But Nidai still ended up dead and we have no idea who did it." Kuzuryū reminded.

"Hey, stop talking so negative! We're trying you to solve this and you're not helping." Koizumi scolded.

"I'm only saying this cuz your all out of your league. No one's a detective here and we're already too late." Kuzuryū then pointed at the monitor displaying only Tsuki and Hanamura, who appeared to be arguing.

"Wh-Where is Komaeda?" Sonia asked in concern.

"H-He must have fallen." Soda replied.

"That's right!" Monokuma said gleefully. "You all better hurry up and decide on the mastermind before he burns up."

"We can let that psycho burn all we want, he deserves it! Criminals are the lowest of the low!" Saionji said.

"That's pretty heartless don't you think?" Mioda said.

"We don't have time for arguments." Pekoyama interrupted. "Both Tsuki and Hanamura are still hanging for their lives."

"We have a decent amount of information to make an accusation." Togami said. "I've managed to profile the killer. They clearly have to be _smart_ to be able to plan something this convoluted. Using the information, they knew about the killing game beforehand due to _being a traitor_ , they had already gained an advantage. They also were _desperate to pin this crime on Hanamura_ , and after they noticed Hanamura's attempted murder would fail they _needed to do something_ so that we would _suspect him and discredit anything he said regarding those notes_."

"Just tell us who it is already!" Owari asked.

"The killer had to make us suspect Hanamura, they knew most details of his attempted murder and brought that to light." Togami explained. " _There desperation to do this is what has revealed them_. Who the mastermind is…"

* * *

Make an accusation!

* * *

 _Who is Togami talking about? Who was so desperate as to do this? I need to think about everyone._

 _Peko Pekoyama:  
_ _Could it really be Pekoyama? I never noticed anything suspicious about her and she even didn't contribute a huge amount to accusing Hanamura._

 _Kazuichi Soda:  
_ _He did instantly accuse this of being Hanamura's doing at the start of the trial. Unnaturally so, but still… that isn't enough to go off._

 _Akiko Sato:  
_ _She had a very icy reaction when Hanamura was first caught and has been pushing to take action constantly. Suspicious yes but that still isn't a lot to accuse her of murder._

 _Nekomaru Nida:  
_ _I can't see this being a suicide in any possible fashion. Was he really the other traitor though…?_

 _Akane Owari:  
_ _The only thing she ever did was lose her temper and defend Nida… Plus, not to be mean but this is a very complicated murder._

 _Gundham Tanaka:  
_ _He helped before when proving it was Nagito… I think? Nothing else really points to him._

 _Chiaki Nanami:  
_ _While Chiaki was helpful in figuring out everything that went down tonight, she backed me up when noticing something was odd in this trial. I also have a hard time believing it's her._

 _Byakuya Togami:  
_ _He's been one step ahead most of the time, but didn't realise the knife was smuggled under the table. He also did warn us about Nagito just before he… showed his true colours. But is that enough to suspect him?_

 _Mahiru Koizumi:  
_ _She was very fiery as she got aggressive at Hanamura, but surely that's just her personality? We also did some investigating together; she was helpful but not that helpful. She is trying to get us to rush this decision but isn't that because she's worried about the others?_

 _Teruteru Hanamura:  
_ _Unless he forged those notes as an elaborate plan, it can't be him. Still though… why did he follow those instructions?_

 _Hiyoko Saionji:  
_ _Apart from her sour tongue, she hasn't acted odd. Not only has Hanamura been getting accused by her, she just throws insults at anyone. I don't see this being her…_

 _Nagito Komaeda:_ _  
I want it to be him, I really do. But it isn't, he tried to kill Hanamura and the mastermind used this. If Nagito was the mastermind, why would he go through the effort to hide it? He himself doesn't want to leave this island, as creepy as that is. Dammit there was more to ask him to see what more he knows but Monokuma isn't allowing that. He may also be dead right now…_

 _Mikan Tsumiki:  
_ _She hasn't accused anyone at all and has barely talk. I don't have anything to incriminate her, thankfully._

 _Kettei Tsuki:  
_ _He spent a lot of time at the abandoned building, so he could have noticed Nagito's behaviour and used that to manipulate Hanamura. But then why would he convince us all to carry on the trial when we were all thinking about giving up? He also asked me to accuse him of attempted murder… dammit none of this makes sense!_

 _Sonia Nevermind:  
_ _She was super against the idea of there being traitors among us and didn't want to believe one of us were the killer, thus she never gave much input. She didn't accuse anyone._

 _Fuyuhiko Kuzuryū:  
_ _He was suspicious of Hanamura like everyone else. He also suspiciously joined us just after the blackout, but that doesn't have any relation…_

 _Ibuki Mioda:  
_ _Apart from her distracting comments, there is nothing I have to say against Ibuki._

… _?  
That's everyone! I went through everyone, and I still have no clear idea on who did! Who was Togami talking about?_

* * *

"The mastermind is…" Togami said out loud before pointing his finger. "Hajime Hinata."

… _? What? I'm the master? Crap, why does he think it's me!?_

"Wh-What?" I said in surprise.

"You think it is Hinata?" Sonia asked.

"I do." Togami answered. "And I have my reasons."

"We should hurry, Hanamura just fell off and I don't know how long Tsuki is going to last." Sato warned.

"So we just vote Hinata then and we're done right?" Owari said.

"N-No! I'm not the killer." I argued.

"Togami, why do you think it's Hajime?" Chiaki asked.

"Simple. This whole event tonight was pulled so that we would think Hanamura was the killer and take the fall." Togami explained. "There was one person in particular who figured out what was _meant_ to happen tonight. They told us all how Hanamura went to kill Nagito so we would find him suspicious. That person was you, Hajime Hinata!"

" _You're_ behind this Hinata?" Koizumi said in surprise.

"No, it wasn't me! You've got this wrong!" I fought back.

"Hey, he did tell us all about using the green paint under the floorboards." Saionji said.

"You also mentioned how the knife was hidden underneath the table." Pekoyama added on.

"D-Didn't you also tell us about the AC timers?" Soda said. "How'd you know all that stuff?"

"I-I figured it out!" I replied in shock. "All I did was make decisions based off the evidence." _I looked around, most people had distrust in their eyes. Most of them think I did it! So this is how it feels to have everyone gang up on you because of one accusation… I feel terrible. Like I have nowhere to run… like I deserve this… but I'm not the killer!_

"You did make your conclusions rather quick." Tanaka said. "Unless you have access to the dark knowledge, you must be the killer."

"I said I'm not the killer!" I argued. "You've got this wrong!"

"I didn't expect it to be you." Togami said. "But all the pieces fall together. You explained Hanamura's and Komaeda's attempted murder in great deal before anyone else had figured out."

 _I can't believe it; they all think I did it because I figured everything out! All I did was try to keep everyone alive and the think I'm the killer because of it! Why… they all deserve to-_

"Hold it." Chiaki interrupted. "You still haven't explained all the problems." _Oh thank god someone thinks I'm innocent._

"We don't have time for that." Sato warned. "Tsuki is about to drop any minute now."

"But if we're wrong then we're all going to die." Chiaki countered.

"You're just defending him because you two hit it off!" Soda accused.

"G-Grow up!" I retorted. "All our lives are on the line here!"

"I'll give you one final chance." Togami offered. "To prove that you are not the mastermind."

 _My heart is racing, we're all going to die if I fail this! I can't believe that's all it takes for people to paint you as a killer. An accusation and a bit of circumstantial evidence. I felt myself starting to panic, I just wanted to deny everything Togami said but I tried to calm myself and give my rebuttal._

* * *

Panic Rebuttal Showdown!  
Togami vs Hinata

* * *

"I'm disappointed that you're  
the traitor Hinata."

"I'm not the traitor or the  
mastermind! How about  
you show me some evidence!"

"You clearly tried your best  
to pin this crime on Hanamura!  
That's why you explained his  
crime to us!"

"I explained it because  
I figured it out! We had the  
evidence and discussed  
it together! I wasn't  
the only ones who  
made the conclusions!"

"And yet you always seemed to be  
the one finishing with the correct conclusion."

"If that's all your evidence  
to think I'm the killer then  
maybe you're accusing me  
because you're the mastermind!"

"You denied that this could all  
be because of the traitor because  
you were worried that the other  
traitor would rat you out."

"No I wasn't! And that isn't evidence  
that it was _me_ in specific!"

"Of course I have more evidence.  
Something to incriminate you beyond  
a shadow of a doubt…"

"What are you talking? **You have  
nothing to prove that I committed this crime!**"

"And that is where your logic is flawed! **  
Then how did you know the iron skewer was in the** **Meat on the Bone?!** "

* * *

End!

* * *

"Wh-What?" I asked in confusion.

"I figured it out, I understand it now." Togami said. "The moment out party started, the mastermind noticed a problem, the carpet was in the way and would stop Hanamura's crime. So in order to make sure we all still found him suspicious, the killer exposed Hanamura's plan by pointing out the iron skewer."

"N-No… you've got it all wrong!" I begged.

"Then how did you know that the iron skewer was in the meat?" Togami questioned. "It was impossible to know!"

"I-It was just intuition… I didn't know it would be in there." I said, my spirit now crushed under the suspicious gaze of everyone.

"And intuition you understood Hanamura's and Komaeda's crime? Face it, there are way too many coincidences here." Togami said.

"It wasn't me! Someone help me out here or we're all going to die!" I begged before looking at Chiaki. _She understands… right?_

"Togami… explain it all from the beginning. The we'll know…" Chiaki said slowly.

"This with clear all doubt. Listen up." Togami said.

* * *

Crime Summary

* * *

Act 0:  
"This starts before our school trip. The killer was working with World Ender, the organization who put us in here. Meaning they were a traitor and had time to prepare a plan for such a convoluted crime. It's likely **they knew who we were** and our weaknesses, including Komaeda's madness and Hanamura's fear."

Act 1:  
"After everyone had gotten on the island, the traitor likely waited until night of the first day before heading over to the **secret area** and collecting the Monoquinine. This may have been where they conversed with the other traitor and **convinced them to stay silent**."

Act 2:  
"After our talk on setting up the party, the traitor did some sneaking around and discovered that **Komaeda was trying to kill someone** , he used this to his advantage and sent those letters to Hanamura to manipulate him to kill Komaeda, he then planned to expose Hanamura so we would accuse him of the masterminds own crime. The poison was placed inside the food, so that **someone was likely to die** from it. Of course poison being placed inside the food would also lead us to place more suspicion on Hanamura."

Act 3:  
"The plan was set and the party started, but instantly their plan was foiled. As they entered the venue, they noticed a carpet was set out, that would stop Hanamura's crime and increase the chances that they would be caught. But then they **gained an opportunity to do so** , when I asked them to investigate the kitchen with me they decided to expose Hanamura's crime there and then so that we would find Hanamura suspicious."

Act 4:  
"After the revelation the blackout struck, where Komaeda tried to kill someone. However, his **shoddy plan failed** as he couldn't see in the dark and thus only struck Tsuki in the arm. At being attacked, Tsuki fought back where the floor broke underneath them, making this crime more complicated. However, this was just a mere distraction as Nidai had already died from the poison in the food, his final resting point, the toilet."

Act 5:  
"This killer didn't stop here though, he wanted to be done as quickly as possible. Even now, during the class trial they **revealed both Komaeda's and Hanamura's attempted murder** in great deal. This was all a ploy from a start so that we would accuse Hanamura of the murder so they could escape free."

* * *

"The only person capable of performing such a murder was you Hajime Hinata! You've been deceiving us from the start!" Togami accused.

"No! It isn't me… you've got this all wrong!" I fought.

"I find this theory hard to believe as well." Chiaki added on. "Isn't odd to think the killer would know so much about us then? Did they really know they could use both Hanamura and Komaeda?"

"Exactly!" I said. "There are more holes as well! We haven't seen this secret area where the poison came from at all and we haven't shown why the other traitor has kept quiet! What about how the killer knew Nagito would kill someone and that Hanamura would accept his proposal? Also the poisoning in itself is suspicious! How did the killer know someone would consume it? Barely any of us ate anything. And how about Nagito's murder, was he really planning on killing someone in the darkness just like that? The floor as well, it just coincidently fell? Sure there's more to it!"

"Does it matter?" Sato said in response. "None of that changed the fact that you're the mastermind, you're just playing for time so the others are going to die. You're a sick individual."

"It's over, just admit to it." Togami said.

"What? It isn't me! Why… why won't you believe me…?" I begged.

"Well it appears you've come to a decision, are you ready to vote?" Monokuma asked.

"No!" I shouted.

"Yes we are!" Togami said, he was joined by most of the others.

"Then everyone get ready to pick, who is the mastermind? Will choose the right one? Or the wrong one?" Monokuma said, my opinion was drowned out.

 _Who am I supposed to vote for…? It doesn't matter, I'm outnumbered, my vote doesn't matter. Everyone here is against me… we're all going to die apart from the real mastermind… why? Why is this happening!? Well there's no point in voting, I'm dead either way… there's_ _ **no hope for me.**_

"Correct! The mastermind is indeed Hajime Hinata!" Monokuma announced.

"Wh-What?!" I gasped.

"Thaaaat's right you filthy traitor!" Monokuma said in my face.

"But…" I tried to say.

"You… you bastard! Trying to manipulate us like that!" Kuzuryū spat.

"You're the lowest of the low!" Saionji hissed.

"I didn't expect it to be you." Pekoyama said.

"Even now you won't admit it, disgraceful." Sato said.

"You…! You killed coach for your sick twisted plan!" Owari threatened.

"Why is this happening… Why is Monokuma lying…?" I wondered, _not that it meant much._

"Hm." Tanaka didn't even dignify say anything.

"I knew it! You are the traitor!" Soda said.

"Ibuki didn't want it to be you…" Ibuki pouted.

"H-Hinata… why…" Tsumiki said.

"I don't believe it…" Sonia denied.

"How? How could you Hinata!?" Koizumi said at me.

"It wasn't me!" I shouted back. "Monokuma's lying! It was all a setup up! I swear I didn't do any of this!"

"Who is the other traitor?" Togami asked. "Who is it?!"

"I'm not the traitor…" I begged with tears in my eyes.

"Time to end this then! No point wasting time!" Monokuma said.

"What about the other three?" Koizumi asked.

"Huh? Why are you asking me?" Monokuma asked. "There's a monitor over, that shows you their fate. Although I would say you all took _just_ too long…"

 _I turned my attention to the monitor… there was no longer anyone in sight. Nagito, Hanamura, Tsuki… they all fell. Gone… forever._

"You heartless piece of-" Sato started to say but she didn't even finish before she grabbed my shirt and looked me in the eyes. "It wasn't enough, was it? You couldn't just accept you had been caught, you had to drag this trial out so they would die!"

"I didn't mean to!" I responded. "I-It wasn't me…!"

"Well let's give it everything we've got, iiiiiit's PUNISHMENT TIIIIIIIIME!" Monokuma announced.

 _This isn't happening… What did I ever do? Why am I being painted as a murderer? Why is this happening!?_

"Agghhh!" I screamed as I felt a hook clasps my neck and force me back. _So that's it, Monokuma's going to kill me for a crime I didn't commit. Why is he doing this…?_

* * *

Execution: Hajime Hinata  
 _"Reserve Course Trouble!"_

* * *

 _After a few moments of blackness, the lights came one. I was in a classroom, it had a five by five row of desks. I was on the left most row, third from the front, right next to the window. All the other seats were filled with cardboard cut-outs of my old classmates… this was my old school, before Hopes Peak. I… hate this place! I… had no friends here, everyone hated me because of my… 'connection' to Hopes Peak. Why did they hate me… why was I bullied…? What… what was my talent!? Someone tell me!_

" _Haaahaaa."  
"Hehehe."  
"Loser."_

 _Their laughing at me… noises are coming out from the cardboard cut-outs. Why are they laughing at me…? What am I…? Who am I…?_

" _He cheated."  
"He didn't really get into Hope Peaks!"  
"Peh, pay to win."  
"He thinks money can help get him through life!"  
"Talentless!"_

… _No… that's not true…! I'm an Ultimate! I swear it! I… have talent to be proud of… I'm sure of it! I'm not a rich kid… I'm not a cheater… I'm not a reserve course student! P-Please! I'm begging you, anyone, let me out of here!_

 **Blop Blop**

 _No… why is this happening…? Nagito's body was placed at the desk to my right by a Monokuma in a suit. Nagito was burnt, he smelt completely charred. His clothes were barely their original green colour and his skin was peeling off. Nagito's head was tilted upwards in the chair, somehow is crazed look has survived the fire… but apart from that he was dead..._

 _I looked at the desk behind me, I could see Hanamura slumped on the desk. His hair burnt and he has the same sickly smell of death as Nagito. Why is this happening?_

 **Blop**

 _And placed in front of me was Tsuki, he sat in the chair like a normal person. He was the least burnt up out of the others._

 **BANG**

 _I looked back in shock at the noise, one of the desks with a cardboard student had been crushed by a large iron hammer._

"Tsuki! Are you alive!?" I called out.

"H-Hargh!" Tsuki coughed as he tried to speak, he slowly turned his head turned to me, his expression was slow and light, as if he was on the edge of death. "Hra-Hraa… Hajime..." He managed to spit.

 **BANG  
** _Another desk was crushed._

"What are you doing here? Are you ok?" I asked.

"I-I'm dead…" He managed to say.

"What?"

"I-I can… cheat d-death… ha! Monokuma must have… hehe, thought I was dead… and p-purhg… put me in… y-yarg, your execution. Why…? Why did you do it Hajime?" Tsuki asked me in between fits of coughs.

"It wasn't me…! I didn't do it…" I said.

 **BANG**

"I know you didn't…" Tsuki said. "I saw them, the mastermind…"

"Who was it!? You have to tell Monokuma and stop the execution!"

"That won't work… Monokuma is executing you to prove a point to the mastermind."

"What is going on Tsuki? When did you meet the mastermind!?" I asked.

 **BANG**

"In death… I remembered it all… I remembered everything." Tsuki said. "The truth is horrible, and I can't stop it… But **he** will give me orders when the time is right."

"What are you talking about!?"

"It doesn't matter… we're all going to forget this… this run was a complete failure. The real question is… how did _you_ remember Hajime? What do you remember?"

 **BANG**

"I… I don't know! I don't know what's going on! Tell me what's happening!"

"We're all pawns in a bigger game… I just have to try our hardest to remember the next time around. This hell is just going to repeat again and again and again and again and again an-"

 **BANG SPLAT**

 _And that was it… those were his last words before he was crushed right before me, his blood splattered the classroom. The large iron slowly lifted up, revealing his flesh and organs, I wanted to gag at the sight of it. The boy that was spouting nonsense just a few seconds ago was mercilessly crushed before my eyes, he wasn't supposed to die…_

 **BANG SPLAT**

 **BANG SPLAT**

 _I looked to my right and behind me, both Nagito and Hanamura was crushed… nothing remaining would identify them, just blood, so much blood. And I was next… I looked above me, the iron hammer was above my desk, ready to slam down. This was it for me… I don't want to die here!_

 **BANG SPLAT**

* * *

 _This is it for me?_

* * *

 _This is my end?_

* * *

 _That's my future?_

* * *

 _Death… is my future?_

* * *

 _Future_

* * *

 _Future…_

* * *

 _Future…?_

* * *

 _This… is my future?_

* * *

 **Bad Ending**

"Failed, we'll have to give this another try by reverting it back to the more original state. Don't die this time, we can't let them best us, this is for our future."

 _Who are you? Where are you? What… What is going on…? What… what is that? What am I seeing? Is that us in another class trial? A different trial? A different murder…?_

* * *

"Here's everything that happened in this case!" I said loudly. _I'm talking without even trying…?_

* * *

Case Summary

* * *

Act 1:  
"Togami had us all gather at the dining hall of the old building near the hotel because of the threatening letter he received. Everyone had come as intended except for one so the party was underway. At this point the trap had already been set. Using the irons and the AC timer, Nagito had managed to set up a timed blackout."

Act 2:  
"When the blackout occurred, Nagito has grabbed a knife from underneath the table and tried to stab the closest person to him, Tsuki. But something happened that Nagito didn't expect, Tsuki fought back and tackled him into the floor, putting Nagito's plan to kill someone to a halt. This put both Nagitoand Tsukiundersuspicion ofattempted murder of each other, which lead to them being held over a fiery pit at this minute."

Act 3:  
"However, during this, the real killer was in the kitchen. The killer knew about Nagito's plan and had prepared a light source and a weapon in the meat on the bone. By closing the fire door, their light source wouldn't have been caught as they headed to the storage room. They then placed the tablecloth over them to cover any blood splatters before heading down the trapdoor that lead underneath the floorboards."

Act 4:  
"Using the green paint they had laid out just underneath the table that had knife hidden, the killer prepared to strike Nagito as he grabbed the knife. However, a problem had occurred, the killer hadn't taken in account the size of the carpet that was laid out just before the party started by Tsuki, which covered their view of under the table and would make it harder to stab through, forcing them to retreat. This was when they shouted from under the floor boards, to avoid any suspicion afterwards."

Act 5:  
"When returning from their failure, the killer heard the toilet flush and decided to change his plans. Since the toilet was based in the corner of the building, it was easy for them to use the walls as guidance before arriving underneath it. Then after hearing Nidai trying to unlock the door in the darkness, he took multiple stabs, missing at first, but then striking his feet before Nidai dropped in surprise or shock before he was stabbed through chest."

Act 6:  
"On the other side of the locked door was Pekoyama and Togami, who had tried to force it open at hearing Nidai's yells of pain but due to the darkness, the locked door and Nidai's body weighing against it, they couldn't get it open. They both decided to try and head back to the office using the walls, where with their combined efforts, they managed to reset the circuit breaker and bring back the lights. But by then it was far too late."

Act 7:  
"This and the distraction where Tsuki and Nagito were fighting over the knife gave the real killer enough time to exit from under the floorboards and hide his weapon before joining us all in our attempt to open the door to bathroom. Pretending as if they hadn't done anything."

* * *

"Isn't that right, Teruteru Hanamura!" I accused with confidence. _That's right, I understand this murder. Everything makes sense, all the facts come together… what a weird daydream to have._

"Th-This… is a mistake… A mistake, I tell you... I would never… I would never kill anyone…" Hanamura said.

"Under normal circumstances you wouldn't." Togami said. "But your own concerns forced your hand didn't it? After seeing Nagito's true colours and those pictures Monokuma gave us you couldn't control yourself, you saw an opportunity handed to you and tried to kill him."

"I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to... I mean I would never do… such a thing… I wanted to protect you all…" Hanamura said slowly.

"Which is what you told yourself, isn't it?" Togami replied. _Clearly Togami understands the reasons behind other people actions very well._ "That helped keep your conscience in check as you committed the crime."

"But then why did you stab coach!?" Owari roared.

"Fear." Togami put simply. "After his attempted murder failed, he was worried we would find him out. Not only would everyone shun him and distrust him, he would never get another opportunity. So after hearing that flush, he took the risky chance and killed whoever was in that toiler, since he didn't know who it was at the time, it was easier to do. That's how his psyche works."

"I… It wasn't… fair… I didn't want to… ugh… I didn't mean to… ngh… gra…" Hanamura started to tear up. "Waaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"It appears; this is the end." Pekoyama said.

"Ge-he, hahaha!" Monokuma laughed. "It appears you're ready to vote, so please press the lever and choose who you think the blackened is!"

 _I still feel really confused… what was that daydream I had? Why was it similar yet different is so many ways? I need to vote first…_

"Dading! That's right… the killer is indeed Teruteru Hanamura!" Monokuma announced. "Now take a moment to share your sob story while I go find a different execution method."

* * *

 _I quickly drifted out of Hanamura's speech. My thoughts were all over this place, what was the alternative murder I witnessed? There were some clear differences. For one I hadn't pointed out there was an iron skewer in the meat before the class trial and there was no poison involved at all or ever mentioned and we never thought the killer was one of the traitors. The other thing is Tsuki and Komaeda were placed above that fire pit by Monokuma because of suspicion of attempted murder, there wasn't any accidental attempted murder. Another difference is the floor never broke at… it all must have been my imagination. Nothing before the trial seemed to contradict anything, except this was our_ _ **third**_ _day on the island not second. The second was used to prepare for the party by Tsuki and Komaeda… why did things seemed so rushed? Why would I accuse myself in my own imagination...? This didn't make any sense… Slowly I drifted back into the conversation…_

* * *

"No, I was only trying to protect you all!" Hanamura begged.

"From what exactly?" Sato asked.

"Komaeda! I meant to kill him!" Hanamura replied.

"But you stabbed coach!" Owari shouted.

"I find it hard to believe." Sato said with an icy stare. "You planned to take advantage of him and use it to commit murder to get off. If you wanted to protect us all you had to do was say something."

"Why didn't you say anything?!" Togami shouted. "Were you worried? Did you think Komaeda would kill you if you did? Did I not make it clear that I was trying to prevent a murder no matter what?"

"I… I…" Hanamura couldn't respond.

"It's not hard to understand, he wanted off this island so he could see his mother and was willing to sacrifice us all for it." Sato said. "Did you not think that we _all_ have families?"

"I… No, that wasn't it… I just wanted…" Hanamura stuttered.

"Face it, you were willing to do whatever it took to get off this island." Sato said in annoyance. "How could you look your own mother in the eyes and tell her that you killed 17 other students to be here?"

"I don't think it was like that." Chiaki countered. "Maybe he didn't think very far ahead… but he only ever took initiative because of what Komaeda did. I don't think Hanamura would have tried otherwise."

…

"If only I hadn't left my duralumin case." Togami sighed. "I would have been able to grab my night vision goggles and seen him under the floorboards."

"If I had beat Nida to the toilet things might have occurred differently." Pekoyama said.

"You might have wound up dead." Kuzuryū reminded.

"What if the carpet hadn't been placed?" Tsumiki asked. "Does that mean Komaeda would have been stabbed?"

"E-Excuse me..." Sonia said. "But surely both Komaeda and Tsuki should have been freed by now?"

We all gasped and looked at the monitor. _Tsuki and Komaeda are no longer hanging from the pole… did they both fall down into the fire?_

"Upupupu… that's right, I still need to unlock this door to let them out right?" Monokuma said as she patted an iron plated door. "Well first things first, execution time!"

* * *

Execution: Teruteru Hanamura  
 _"Kebab Barbeque"_

* * *

 _A hook wrapped around my neck and instantly dragged me away as I screamed.  
E-Everything was black… and then I saw a fire underneath me light up, it was huge, must have been over 100 times my size. I then realised what I was tied to… a horizontal iron skewer. I was being cooked like this was an oversized barbeque!_

 **STOMP STAMP STOMP STAMP**

 _A giant Monokuma robot slowly walked towards me before grabbing a hand and started spinning it slowly. The world twisted before me as I was slowly cooked alive… nauseating hit me harder than any spice I ever had, I started to be sick. Part of the vomit landed on me… the rest of it went into the fire underneath me. For some reason the fire roared more intensely at it… my skin slowly started to peel off before me. I screamed and cried but it made no difference._

" _I'm sorry momma, I'll see you soon. If I could go back and stop myself, I would."_

* * *

 _That was it… just like that Teruteru Hanamura was gone. Monokuma had slowly burnt him to death in an ironic execution… a slow and painful death that dragged out his screams until the very end. I felt responsible, I accused him and led the final argument that led to us voting for him. But I had to, our lives were on the line. The real killer here is Monokuma!_

 **Click**

 _What was that? I turned my attention to the iron and door and saw it slowly open, revealing a room full fire and flames beyond it._

"Are they alive?" Soda asked.

"Hagh… murghh…" The sound of wheezing could be heard coming from inside. _We all watched in anticipation to see who was alive._ "W-We… murgh made iiit…"Tsuki managed to see as pulled Nagito's body out of the fire room.

"Y-You're alive!" Sonia exclaimed in shock.

"Ha… I'm sooo… lucky…" Nagito said before his eyes shut.

"Hehe…" Tsuki laughed quietly in slight hysteria. "Monokuma… thought… he-he-he could… burn me…" He then dropped on all fours and with his head to the ground. "G-Good job… everyone… now if… you'll excuse me… I need to… r-rest..."

 **Thump**

Tsuki laid on the floor.

"Th-there both suffering from smoke inhalation! We need to get them to a hospital!" Tsumiki shouted as she jumped by their sides.

"Argh, sorry I don't feel like it. Surely it's ok to thin out the cast a bit?" Monokuma asked.

"The rules state only the blackened will be punished." Togami said. "Since we found who that is, these two aren't allowed to die here."

"Yes, you must follow the rules Monokuma!" Monomi added on.

"Ah, whatever! Fine, fine! Call the ambulance!" Monokuma shouted.

 **CRAAAAAAAAASH**

An ambulance drove straight through one of the walls, we all looked at it in shock. A lot of screaming. _Two Monokuma's dressed up as doctors rushed out, one of them pushed Tsumiki to the side before they both grabbed a body and carried it into the ambulance with them. The ambulance then drove off, through the whole in the wall it made._

"Is it ok to leave them both to Monokuma?" Koizumi asked.

"There's nothing we can do for now." Togami answered. "Right now we should focus on _our_ situation. I'm disappointed in everyone here."

"Huh?" I said.

"This murder easily could have been avoided if we all just acted more mature." Togami said. "If you had all kept calm during the blackout we could have avoided this."

"I am ashamed in the way we acted." Sonia agreed.

"Hey it's your fault Mr. Ham Hands!" Saionji said. "You dragged us to this party where a knife was hidden!"

"You're right." Togami said. "That's why I'm mostly disappointed with myself. But let me make something clear, none of you are capable of creating a murder where you can get away with it so perish the thought!"

"H-Hey, surely no one else is thinking about it." Soda said.

"We can't be sure as we don't know what Monokuma will do to force us to kill each other." Togami warned. "I don't there to be anymore more murders or attempted murders! If there is, then I'll start to play along."

"What do you mean?" Owari asked.

"I will take part in this killing game if I catch another one of you attempting a murder, is that clear?" Togami said. _Surely that's a hollow threat? It has to be, that goes against what he's been trying to do this whole time! He's trying to scare us… and it's working._

"You're threatening us to keep us in line?" Sato questioned.

"Yes." Togami replied.

…

"I think we should call it a day." Chiaki interrupted.

"Yes… we can discuss these matters at a later time." Sonia agreed. _Everyone else did as well, me including. But we were all thinking the same thing… was Togami really serious? I also had that odd murder on my mind… what was that last bit? My execution… argh, I can barely remember it…_

 _Diary of a traitor  
Day 3_

 _A lot of bad stuff happened today that I don't want to write about. For my own investigation I still don't know whether Hajime is the traitor or not. I still need to spend time with Kettei Tsuki, Akiko Sato and Sonia Nevermind… if they want to. But now I'm unsure… why is there another traitor and how do they differ from me? Good night, I'm very tired today._

* * *

 **Ok, ok. Yes, I know this is confusing and yes it doesn't currently make sense and no, I'm not going to pull this again for another trial. Dangan Ronpa has always managed to have an overall despairingly confusing story line so I'm going to stick to that. Also sorry to those that like Teruteru, but in a world Komaeda and Togami live though the first trial is hard enough, limiting my options even more was just too hard. But don't worry, Teruteru and Nekomaru are going to make a small comeback… how and why? You'll have to find out, once someone's out of this killing game, they're out for good but something magical can happen… And by the way, I'm making Imposter Togami more cynical than others usually do, kinda like overprotective. For uniqueness sake and I think it suits him. Next chapter should have the opening of an island, the interview with the dead and Monokuma talking to a Future Foundation agent.**


	6. Chapter 5 - A burnt man's best friend

**Quick Reminder: A lot of us are probably watching the DR3 anime as it's currently being released but I know others aren't, regardless** ** _I'm not going to be spoiling anything from it_** **. Of course I'm at liberty to spill anything from the previous games (mainly DR1, DR2 and DR/AE). Nothing will be spoiled from the anime though, and for those of you watching it, my fanfic will have a lot of differences.**

* * *

Chapter 5 – A Burnt Man's Best Friend

* * *

"That is bizarre." I said to Naegi. "We both have been shown different trials, the one I witnessed featured Hinata as the criminal and the one you witnessed featured Hanamura as the criminal instead."

"I don't get it Kirigiri… was one of them a fake created by Monokuma?" Naegi asked.

"No, I don't think so… what would Monokuma have to gain from that? He also interviewed me, live to Future Foundation, to get my opinions on what was happening."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing important, in fact _it was mostly lies I made so Monokuma would leave me alone_ and so the Future Foundation wouldn't get suspicious of us. I don't have enough information for a proper theory yet… but there was an option I should have considered more than I did…"

"That isn't like you Kiri… you always consider every option."

"I know that, you must be having an effect on me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Consider betrayal Naegi… by the Future Foundation."

"You think we've been betrayed…? But why?!"

"For one, you're already considered a traitor for kidnapping the original 15 Remnants of Despair. After me and Togami came to help you free everyone something happened… somehow the game restarted. Do you really think it was Monokuma who restarted it?"

"No way! There's no way the Future Foundation would be responsible for that!" Naegi argued.

"That's what I had hoped for… but that also explains one of the two new students. It's highly unlikely Monokuma was actually able to hack into Future Foundation's database. Which leaves us with the question, 'Where did they come from?'"

"But…" Naegi looked hurt, as expected. "Are they both… 'real'?"

"We know one of them can't be, you must have heard about the incident involving _her_ , ending in _her_ death, right?"

"Yeah… but what about _him_?"

"He was assumed dead but we never got confirmation of his death or whereabouts after the tragic world event… so it can be either way." I theorised. "Another possibility is Monokuma created both them, like how he re-created you as an AI as a trick just before the reset."

"Yeah but that AI was clearly a fake to anyone that knew me, right?"

"Correct. Think about this Naegi, we met all of class 77 during Hope's Peak Academy, they were in the year above us. Since the Future Foundation gave us our memories back of our school life, you should remember everyone. If I remember correctly, you were friends with _him_. Is he acting different to how he used to be?"

"…No, not that much."

"Well that's probably just because his avatar is younger now than when you first met him. I remember reading about _her_ after investigating her death, she's fits the category."

"So, you really think Future Foundation are the reason they're here?"

"I can't be sure right now… but it's likely they have some sort of connection to this. What we need to find out is whether Monokuma has control over our and their memories."

"If he does, then that puts less suspicion on the Future Foundation. If he doesn't though… then we know the Future Foundation has to be involved." Naegi summed up.

"Yes, and considering we both remember different version of the same trial… something is clearly going on here…"

"If only we could get out of this Funhouse… by the way Kiri, have you seen Togami?"

"The real one? Not since the restart. But if Monokuma put us both in here then he may put him in here later. For now, we'll just have to wait and watch. Since Monokuma has provided us rations, that means he does have use for use in some way or another, which is especially dangerous if he can tamper with our memories. So we best be on our guard."

"Oooooooooh, Makotoooooooooo!" Monokuma called from outside.

"What does he want…?" Naegi asked.

"I would think to interview you, as he did to me before. Most likely meaning the murder you witnessed the most recent one." I said before Monokuma opened the door.

"I see, so you two were doing it up in the deluxe room I see." Monokuma teased. "Well get the hell out Kyoko! I've got an interview to do!"

"As I suspected, but be warned Junko. The Future Foundation are not helping you." I said before heading out.

"Upupupu, I have _noooo_ idea what you're talking about." Monokuma said sarcastically.

* * *

 _Monokuma Graveyard Theatre_

 _This is your daily dosage of Monokuma! So it's kinda of a shame that Teruteru still ended up being the murderer don't you think? I was hoping for some more variation but I was too lazy to set up a large enough butterfly effect. Then again, who would have thought that all it took was a slightly larger carpet to prevent a certain death? Life is simply unfair; all it took to take Nekomaru's life was an interior design sense… boohoo. Life is more meaningless then you think! It doesn't matter who you are or how great you are, something as meaningless and as simple as a carpet can decide whether you live or die! I once had an uncle who avoided getting on a specific bus because a loud snot nosed sick guy went on it. He found that later that day that the bus had been in a traffic accident and everyone on it died. Aside from ironically dying later that year from a cold, my uncle avoided death at that moment because of his overreaction to being near sick people… something petty and meaningless saved his life. In fact, if he was smarter, he would have gone on that bus and just stayed away from the sick person… but he would have died on the bus later. It doesn't matter how strong you are, how smart you are or how lucky you are, any small decision made by you or someone else can kill you! So don't take life so seriously when you don't really have control, or do what I do and kill them first! Upupupupu!_

 _"So then, let's talk to our first victim of this Killing School Trip! The Ultimate dead guy, I mean Team Manager, Nekomaru Nidai!"_

 _"…Where am I?"_

 _"The land of the dead, stupid!"_

 _"What? I died?"_

 _"Of course you did! Do you not remember getting stabbed? C'mon I'm not pulling any amnesia tricks here!"_

 _"Oh yeah, guahaha! Oh man, I didn't think I'd die this early."_

 _"What the?! Why are you laughing? You're dead! You failed! Killed by Teruteru! Be angry! Seek revenge!"_

 _"NEVER SEEK REVENGE! Yeah I hate being the first to die… but as a Team Manager I always put myself before-"_

 _"SHUT UP! Interview over!"_

* * *

 _"Alright, now we're here with the Super Duper High school Level Ultimately Hopefully Unlucky Luckster of Hope, Makoto Naegi!"_

 _"Wh-What do you want Monokuma? Why are you still doing this?"_

 _"Despair of course! What else?"_

 _"Dammit Junko… why won't you change?"_

 _"Grrr! Stop trying to convert me! And that's Monokuma to you! I'm Hope and you're Despair, deal with… wait, I mean I'm Despair and you're Hope! That's just the way it is!"_

 _"…"_

 _"Although, I suppose you aren't very much Hope now are you? Considering you betrayed the Future Foundation and all that… I wonder how they feel about all that."_

 _"Have you asked them?"_

 _"Maybeeee, maybe not! But onto the important topic, this is all your fault Makoto. Haha!"_

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"You're the one that brought the Remnants of Despair here, causing them to live through the first Killing School Trip."_

 _"Th-That wasn't my intention!"_

 _"You should have made sure they didn't have a virus hidden inside, how irresponsible of you Makoto! This is all your fault!"_

 _"Ngh… you think I don't see what you're trying to do? Of course I feel responsible for what happened but that doesn't mean I'm going to fall to despair!"_

 _"Ugh, you're so annoying! Well then, let's get baaaaaaack on topic. I always find the first murder the most boring one… but yet they always tell you sooo much about the killer."_

 _"Wh-What are you talking about!?"_

 _"Well this person is venturing first, they have the balls to make the first move, enter the unknown!_ _ **Without these people, Despair would never start**_ _."_

 _"What are you getting out?"_

 _"Gah, you're sooo stupid! Didn't you god damn notice? Even though Teruteru failed his first murder, he still went out and did it again! That goes the same for that_ _ **other person**_ _."_

 _"…"_

 _"Staying silent eh? Then I'll say it for ya! Sayakaaaa Maizonooo!"_

 _"I don't believe it! Maizono did not start despair! Neither did Hanamura! This is all your fault Monokuma, you set up this game! You're the real murderer here!"_

 _"Still sticking to that are you? Well did you know they're both considered criminals by our societies laws… wait I mean old laws, since you know, the world was destroyed and everything."_

 _"They are not murderers!"_

 _"Sheesh, that Hope of yours is hard to break. Well think about it like this, it's Maizono that started the killings in the School Life of Mutual Killing! If it wasn't for her little note, Leon would have never killed her… I wonder what compelled her to do it? Why would a sweet little pop idol be the first to commit murder, or at least try to? Let's not forget she failed miserably like Nagito just did, except she died."_

 _"It was your motive! This always leads back to you Monokuma! As I said before, you're the real monster here."_

 _"Upupupu… But I'm not Makoto. It was actually your fault that she tried to kill someone."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"There was a certain conversation between you and Sayaka right after I showed you guys the first motive in the Killing School Life. Let's roll the clip, I've been saving this baby for a looooong time."_

* * *

 **'But… what if there isn't a way out, and nobody comes to our rescue?'**

 **'Maizono, I-If that happens… Then I'll get you out of here myself! No matter what it takes, I swear to you!'**

 _"Yeah, yeah. Then Maizono sobs in your arms for a bit, but listen here. This is the real juicy bit!"_

 **"What you said-can I believe it?"**

 **"Hmm?"**

 **"You said… you would get me out of here yourself, Naegi… No matter what it takes, you swear."**

 **"O-Of course!"**

 **"No matter what happens, Naegi… always stay by my side…"**

 **"Wh- Absolutely!"**

* * *

 _"Guaaaaaaaahahahahaha! I love that bit!"_

 _"Wh-What are you laughing at Monokuma? That was a special moment between me and Maizono!"_

 _"Hahaaaaaaaa! Oh man, does the talent of Hope come with ignorance? Fine, I'll explain it to you in simple turns.  
_ _Numero Uno:_ _Sayaka was planning to frame you for Leon's murder, which is why she was swapping rooms with you.  
_ _Number Two:_ _This plan was in the making the moment you said '_ **Then I'll get you out of here myself! No matter what it takes,'** _That includes murder you giant moron! As she cried in your arms, she was thinking of this plan!  
_ _Number Threeee:_ _However, Sayaka was more devious then this. Instead of killing you herself, she thought it would be better to frame you. She even said_ _ **'**_ **No matter what happens, Naegi… always stay by my side…'** _That was to make sure she had your support in the trial, even if it meant you taking the fall!  
_ _No. Four:_ _If you hadn't agreed to this, she wouldn't have expected your support in the trial and thus never have tried to kill 11037. Do you understand now Mr. Hope? You caused the first murder behind the Killing School Life, and you're the reason the Killing School Trip is happening._ _ **It's all your fault!**_ _"_

 _"…No… I… I didn't mean to…"_

 _"See ya later Future Foundation, I'm sure you all enjoyed this episode of MGT! Next time we'll talk to Teruteru!"_

* * *

"Annnnnnnd cut! Now I'll just change the cameras to someone else…"

"Monokuma! I'm not done! That is **not** what Maizono meant, she was not planning to a murder at that very point!"

"Upupupu, you'll never admit it will you? But no matter, I've already changed the cameras so that the everyone's last picture of the Ultimate Hope is those few seconds of you in total **_Despair_** _!_ "

"Th-That's not fair!"

"All's fair in love and war, or Hope and Despair! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a certain princess to mess with, oh and I unlocked the door so feel free to talk to that sleuth that's carrying you through everything. See ya!"

* * *

 _Even if we awaken in the real world and forget about what transpired here…  
…It will still have meaning right?_

 _…  
Even if I forget… I will use all my might and remember!_

All my might to remember…?

 _…_

 _To remember…_

Remember  
Remember…  
Remember…?

 ***Ding dong, bing bong***

"Ahem… Hope's Peak Academy's School Trip Executive Committee had an announcement to make… Goooood morning, everyone! Looks like today is gonna be another perfect, tropical day! Now then…"

 _What an odd dream… I wonder if it has any meaning to it…? Regardless, I should ready myself for our morning meeting._

"Good morning princess, I prepared a banquet for you." A high pitched voice said. I lifted myself up from my bed to see who it was.

"Ah, Monokuma… I was not expecting such an early visit from you." I said as I looked at the trolley he brought in. On it were various metal dishes covered with a shiny metal tops.

"Viola, a banquet fit for a princess!" Monokuma said as he revealed the food, it was a variety of bugs and other live insects.

"I am sorry but, I would rather not eat anything you prepare, even if it is edible." I said as nicely as I could.

"You're so ungrateful! To think li'l old me would spend my time preparing this delicious food for you to just throw it away… like it's just junk found on the floor…" Monokuma pouted.

"Bugs are usually found are the floor, are they not?"

"Grrr! I came all this way to give you a present and this is how you treat me? Fine! I'm outta here!" Monokuma shouted as he threw something on the floor before heading out my door. _That was a very unusual thing to witness, I wonder what's up with him. Also how did he get in my room? I locked the door after what happened last night…_

* * *

 _Last night_

 ** _Ding dong!_**

 _"May I ask who's ringing at a time like this?" I asked through door of my cottage._

 _"I-It's Kazuichi… c-can i come in?"_

 _"…I would prefer you wouldn't Soda." I replied, putting my hand to the door._

 _"Ack… I er, know you might be feeling scared… after all someone did just get executed… but I um, want you to know that I'm here for you…" Soda said as he started to push against my door, trying to get it open._

 _"Please… I know this may sound rude but you are not helping…" I said as I pushed it back._

 _"Ah, er, look. If you need someone to help you ge-"_

 _"What the hell are you doing!?" I heard Togami shouted from outside._

 _"AHH!" Soda screamed. At the apparent situation I opened the door to see Togami staring down on Soda._

 _"What is going on here?!" Togami asked in annoyance._

 _"He was trying to get my door open." I informed._

 _"Just how stupid are you?" Togami said to Soda._

 _"N-No! I was worried about her, can't you see that?" Soda defended._

 _"So you tried to break through the door? Get out of my sight!" Togami spat._

 _"O-Okay!" Soda said before he scampered off._

 _"Sonia, lock your door at night time from now on." Togami said._

 _"Yes, that is good advice that I shall heed."_

* * *

 _I hope Soda isn't waiting outside my cottage again… Now what was it that Monokuma left behind…? It appears to be a sort of tablet… but nothing has been displayed in it. Why would Monokuma leave me this?_

"Aha! I knew it!" Monokuma shouted as he appeared before me, surprising me slightly.

"What is this for?" I asked.

"That thingy is a Digital Photo Album, or DPA if you want. Whenever you find valuable information about the bigger picture of what's going on around here and why, this thing will record the details." Monokuma explained poorly.

"Could you perhaps elaborate on it?"

"Nah, I don't feel like it. But here's a start, your friends Hajime and Chiaki already have the first piece that can go inside it, go talk to them for starters. I was going to give this to them but eh, protagonists are overrated." Monokuma said before leaving. _A DPA to store valuable information about why we are here… if it is not a ploy then it may be useful._

 _Ok, time to ready myself for a hopefully better day._

I stepped out my door to find my fears had been realised.

"Good morning Miss Sonia, how did you sleep?" Soda asked to me at my door. _I must not be mean to him; he means well… for now._

"Not very well as you could imagine…"

"That's understandable, neither did I. Hey, what you got there?" Soda then pointed to my DPA.

"It's a Digital Photo Album… do you know anything about it?" I asked. _Everybody serves a role and has their uses._

"A DPA eh? It looks kind of advanced but it looks like you can run discs on it and you should be able to connect it to other devices. If you let me take it apart I can lo-"

"No that is quite alright, thank you for your help." I said before walking off.

"N-No problem… hehe."

 _Few… he didn't follow me._ I walked down to the ground floor of the hotel-restaurant to see Mahiru, Akiko Sato and Nanami.

"Good morning." I greeted but as expected atmosphere is pretty dull after the trial that went on late last night.

"Morning." Mahiru said.

"Hello Sonia, you look nice this morning. You must have slept well." Akiko complimented.

"I'm afraid not, but thank you for the comment. Who else has arrived?" I replied.

"Haven't seen anyone else yet." Koizumi said. "All the boys must be slacking off." I then turned to Nanami who was playing in the arcade machine.

"Excuse me Nanami, do you have a minute to talk?" I asked.

"Ye-Yeaaa- * **Yaaaaawn*…** Oh, my yawning made me lose." Nanami replied.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright. I haven't been doing well today…"

"Well better luck next time, but I was wondering if you and Hinata had found any items of interest before. Anything relating as to why we are here perhaps?" I asked.

"Hmm, well there was one thing we found… it was a disc that showed two different people talking, but it sounded like they were trapped somewhere a forced into a Killing Game similar to ours." Nanami's explanation had clearly caught the interest of Akiko and Mahiru.

"That's horrible…" Mahiru said.

"Indeed, how could something so despicable happen twice?" Akiko asked.

"Could you perhaps show it to me?" I asked before explain about the DPA.

"This looks important; I'll go ask Hajime for it." Nanami said before heading out.

"Wow, we couldn't get her off her game before." Mahiru commented.

"Well at least she has her priorities in check." Akiko said.

"Where is everyone?! Are all the boys oversleeping?" Mahiru said in annoyance.

"The trial did go on very late last night so it is not surprising to see everyone has overslept, however, I saw Soda this morning." I said.

"Hey guuuuuuys, Ibuki is here." Ibuki said as she jumped through the doors.

"Nice to someone is in good spirits. Good morning Ibuki." Sato greeted. After we all greeted her we chatted a bit, eventually Soda, Pekoyama, Tsumiki and Owari. We all gathered upstairs but I waited behind for Nanami and Hinata to show, as they did.

"Good morning, did you get it?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's right here." Hinata said as he held a clean DVD.

"Then let us try putting it in…" I said before clicking a side button. A retractable disc holder came out and Hinata tentatively put it in before the it shut.

 **Crack Shatter Rush Crush**  
The DPA started making horrible grinding noises.

"Wh-What is it doing?!" Hinata asked in surprise.

"It sounds like it's eating the disc." Nanami said calmly.

"Get it out! That disc is important!" Hinata asked.

"It appears to be stuck, it won't come back." I replied.

"I think it's fine." Nanami said.

"Huh? But didn't you say it was important Chiaki?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, but look at the screen, I think it's updating." Nanami pointed out.

 **Clue 1 "Fujisaki & Naegi free time events."**

"It looks like you can click on it to view the event." Nanami explained.

"If it something important, perhaps we should show it to everyone? I am curious myself." I said.

"Yeah, I guess we should. I'm also hungry." Hinata said. We headed up the stairs to find mostly everyone had made it but…

"Kyaaah!" Tsumiki screamed from the floor. He body was placed through the back of a chair, leaving her behind complete view…

"H-How on earth did you end up like that?" Hinata asked in shock.

"I-I-I dunno, I just fell and…" Tsumiki stuttered.

"Ended up through the chair…" Tanaka finished.

"Hey Mahiru… how about you get that camera of yours out and start taking some shots!" Ibuki suggested.

"There's no way I would do something like that!" Mahiru said.

"Ugh, you filth! You fell again today!?" Saionji

After a few minutes of helping Tsumiki back up, we got back on track.

"That makes 12 of us." Sato said.

"That's everyone for now then." Mahiru finished.

"We're already down to 12" Hinata said. "There were 18 of us yesterday…"

"Two of them are dead." Saionji said nonchalantly. "The other two have been burnt to a crisp."

"They might be dead too you know!" Soda exclaimed.

"But they got into an ambulance, did they not?" I said.

"But that would leave their health to Monokuma." Pekoyama reminded.

"Either way, we don't know how long they'll be gone for." Sato said. "We're also still missing Togami and Kuzuryū."

"Yo, I'm here." Kuzuryū as he came up the stairs.

"You're late!" Mahiru scolded.

"Hey! You're lucky I god damn came!" Kuzuryū argued.

"What happened to the bigshot that was saying he could kill someone?" Mahiru questioned.

"Dammit you b… Ok listen up! I changed my mind, I ain't going to kill anyone." Kuzuryū announced. "I'm not going to let myself be controlled by that fucking bear, so for now… I guess I'll co-operate."

"Wow, Ibuki did not see that coming." Ibuki said.

"This might be a trick!" Soda mentioned. "He is a Yakuza, killing us is nothing to him!"

"What did you say?!" Kuzuryū shouted. "I'm trying to be nice here and fucking idiot! How about I-"

"That's enough." Pekoyama intruded. "Arguing will get us nowhere."

"I agree." I said. "We must not doubt our friends."

"O-Ok then, if you're fine with it Miss Sonia." Soda replied.

"Does anyone know where Togami is?" Nanami asked.

 _"Haven't seen him."  
"Nope."  
"Not at all."  
"N, O spells no."_

"I knocked on his door but he didn't answer." Sato said.

"Then let us eat until his return, an army marches on its stomach." I said. "I also have something to show you all that has some importance, Soda if you could please plug this to the monitor."

"Of course Miss Sonia!" Soda replied quickly before taking my DPA.

"What is that?" Owari asked.

"A hint." Nanami replied. "It should give us some information about why we are here with Monokuma… probably."

 _We all sat down and ate as the video played. At first nothing seemed special about it, just two students talking to each other and becoming friends, but then certain parts were more interesting. Such as both of them are Ultimate's and appear to be in a Killing Game and other stuff._

"So this event has happened once before." Pekoyama stated.

"In Hope's Peak Academy no less." Togami said from the corner of the room.

"When did you arrive here?" Sato asked.

"I saw the whole video." Togami replied.

"Hey, maybe you should have gotten here earlier!" Mahiru shouted.

"I was scouting the… before that we should discuss the context of this video." Togami said.

"No, you have some explaining to do!" Mahiru argued.

"Yeah, you just suspiciously disappear for a while and come back like this! You could have killed someone!" Soda added on.

"Killed who exactly?" Togami asked. "14 of us are here, both Tsuki and Komaeda are missing. It's in your best interest to follow my wishes as your leader."

"Wait a minute!" Mahiru interrupted. "You said you would no longer be the leader if something happened."

"I said I would reconsider being leader." Togami corrected. "I did, no one else is suitable for the role."

"That forceful personality of yours is what got someone killed!" Mahiru argued.

"Ngh!" Togami flinched, as if he had been hurt deeply. "Who else then? Who else can take the role of leader!? Any volunteers?"

Everyone looked at each other, a few eyes fell on me.

"What about Sonia?" Mahiru suggested.

"No." Togami instantly answered.

"And why not!?" Mahiru argued.

"Because if a leader does not volunteer themselves then they don't have the right qualities." Togami said.

"Well how about we give them a try?"

"Lives are on the line here; I cannot allow anyone else to-"

"That's enough!" I intervened. "I understand the issues at hand but I believe Togami is trying his best, I still think he is the best candidate."

"But… ok fine." Mahiru conceded. "But you have to lay off being so pushy."

"We'll see about that." Togami replied. "But your criticism has been taken into account. Now we will return to the topic at hand, the video we witnessed. From it, what key points can we establish?"

"That Fujisaki girl was pretty cute." Ibuki said.

"And Nagito looked like a total pushover." Owari said.

"It was Naegi, not Nagito!" Soda corrected.

"…Fine, I'll say it myself." Togami interrupted. "They were both in a Killing Game, trapped inside Hope's Peak Academy. The Ultimate Luckster and Ultimate Programmer, however, I've never heard of them before. Any of you?"

…  
Most of us just shook our heads

"We know the Ultimate Luckster of our year is Nagito Komaeda, which begs the question, where did they come from?" Togami asked.

"Togami, you think they're from a different class?" Hinata asked.

"Precisely." Togami said. "But not from one before us, one from after us since we've never heard of them. Considering we are from class 77, they may be from class 78, 79 or even 80 since we've had between two to three years of our memories erased."

"Are we really believing our memories have been erased?" Kuzuryū asked.

"Let explain to you the concept in which Monokuma works by." Togami said. "For some reason, we're being forced to kill each other and in order to do that he is providing numerous motives and reasons for us to do so. If we found out that anything he said is false, then our need to kill falls dramatically. Those pictures of the broken outside world, how we got to this island and this video points to everything we've been told as true. It isn't guaranteed, but highly likely."

"You've made your point." Kuzuryū said.

"Back to the topic then." Togami said. "We know little more on the details about this, but if Monokuma left us this disc then there should more information, which is why we need to investigate the new island.

"N-New island?" Tsumiki asked.

"Thaaaat's right!" Monokuma said as he jumped in the middle of us all. "After every successful trial, I'm going to be opening up an island for you all to explore."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Monomi argued as she also appeared. "You didn't give me the chance to beat up the Monobeasts."

"Shut up with your incessant arguing." Togami interrupt. "All we need is the important details, otherwise go away!"

"Grrr! Why you!" Monokuma growled. "Each island will have a new clue for that DPA and a new living being for you to meet."

"Eh? There's someone new on the island?" Soda asked.

"C-Could it be Naegi or Fujisaki?" Tsumiki mentioned.

"Eh? Those two?" Monokuma asked. "That game is old news, you all better get exploring the third island."

"Uwah!" Monomi gasped. "Hey, you're not opening them in the right order!"

"And what? I've got something special planned for every island, but in particular I'm kiiiindaaaa forced to open this island." Monokuma said.

"That's because of your brutality, you are an awful bear!" Monomi retorted.

"Shut up!" Togami interrupted. "If neither of you have any useful information then get the hell out of my face!"

"Why you!" Monokuma grumbled. "Fine! But I'm going to mess you up if you ever break the rules!" Monokuma threatened

"Go. Away." Togami spat.

"Grrrr, you better learn to respect me, I'm not as weak as last time!" Monokuma shouted before jumping up and…

 **Pow!**

Punched Togami in the jaw.

"That'll teach ya!" Monokuma said before grabbing Monomi and disappearing off.

"T-Togami! Are you alright?" Tsumiki asked.

"Interesting…" Togami said unfazed.

"Interesting what? You just got frickin punched!" Soda shouted.

"That was a test." Togami said. "To see how far Monokuma willingly bends the rules, as I though he can and will freely hurt us."

"Wh-Why would you do something like that?" Mahiru asked.

"I'm trying to understand the basis of this game and what Monokuma is getting out of it, this is my own personal investigation that you don't need to concern yourself with, but I would advise none of you antagonize Monokuma, otherwise he could easily trap you over a fiery out like he did before." Togami explained.

"I don't think any of us were going to do that." Hinata said.

"Back to topic, _again_." Togami said, rather pissed off. "I noticed the unguarded island this morning and scouted it quickly, which is why I was late. There are five points of interest that need investigating. The Hospital, Music Venue, Electronic Street, Cinema and Motel. We're all going to split up in groups and investigate it."

"Can't you just leave us to ourselves to explore?" Mahiru asked.

"If we're alone at any given moment, the chance of a killing increases." Togami explained. "For now we will have to stick in groups of at least three, understand?"

"But that's like, a lot of our freedom gone!" Saionji complained.

"Better than dead." Togami said harshly. "However, concern has been noted. I won't dictate who or where you all go, ok?"

"That is a good compromise." I commented.

"Good. We will disperse in groups of three to out selected destination." Togami said. "There will be only two members of a group due to our number. I also have recommendations to make, for the hospital I want Tsumiki to head there for obvious reasons. Any followers?"

"I-I'm h-happy with that, th-thank you for thinking of me…" Tsumiki thanked.

"I will also be joining this group, so one more volunteers." Togami asked.

"Ibuki will join!" Ibuki said as she jumped up with her hand in the air.

"You'd rather this than the music venue…? Hmph, fine then. Next is the Music Venue. I have no recommendations here." Togami said.

"I'll go." Kuzuryū said, but before anyone else could offer. "Hinata, Nanami, you two are with me."

"Don't we get a say in this?" Hinata asked.

"You're the only two I can stand." Kuzuryū said matter-of-factly.

"But-" Hinata tried to argue.

"That's fine with me." Nanami said unfazed.

"But… fine." Hinata conceded.

"Now we have the Electronic Street. Soda." Togami said simply put.

"Er, sure." Soda agreed before looking at me desperately.

…

"Someone has to volunteer, this area will only need a group of two." Togami enforced.

"I suppose I can go." Akiko joined in.

"And for the cinema?" Togami asked.

"I want to watch a movie!" Saionji said.

"Yeah, I'll join as well." Owari said.

"I don't mind." Mahiru finished.

"That leaves the Motel to Sonia, Pekoyama and Tanaka." Togami finished.

"Don't expect me to do your mortal labours." Tanaka warned.

"We'll head over to the bridge then leave in our groups. Stay at your designated area until I come and collect you all, if anything unexpected happens, stick together and find me. Dismissed." Togami said. We all departed, including me after grabbing my DPA.

* * *

 _I don't understand... who am I? Everyone else here will tell you that I'm Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Prodigy. Yet I'm making a mockery of him the way I'm acting, so_ _ **who**_ _am I acting as right now? I don't believe I'm basing my current personality on anyone I know, it seems like an influx of Byakuya Togami. I'm using his looks, his speech pattern, his demeanour and stance… and yet anyone that knows him personally would call out my act instantly._

 _I've never done this before… all my life I've always done exactly as another would. No variation or standard deviation… perfect to the mark. And yet, the moment that killing game was announced I broke out of character for the first time ever… why did I feel the urge to lead everyone here? I'm selfish, most characters with Ultimate talents have interesting histories that shape a unique personality that I would like to imitate sometime. The more interesting, the more I'm drawn to them. The moment I perfect everyone's personalities here I'll end this game and carry on my life, if there really is a world outside, if not then nothing really matters._

 _Until then, I must return to acting more like Byakuya Togami._

 _I'm doing this for myself, to perfect my own talents._

 _I'm selfish, I'm protecting everyone for my own reasons._

 _I'm protecting everyone for my own reasons._

 _I'm protecting everyone for my own reasons…_

 _I'm protecting everyone for my own reasons…?_

 _Wha… What the hell are_ _ **my**_ _own reason!?_

"Lookie here, we're here!" Ibuki shouted in my ears. _Be harsh, she just defiled your esteemed ears._

"I can see that." Togami replied calmly. _And once again, I broke out of character. Why is it considerably harder to hold this act around her in particular?_

"This is the hospital, if you find anything dangerous tell me." Togami ordered.

"D-Do you th-think both Komaeda and Tsuki w-will be here…?" Tsumiki asked.

"In all likelihood yes, Monokuma hinted to it before." Togami confirmed. "Now let's us head inside."

It didn't take too long before we found the corridor with the patient's rooms, the first room had Komaeda sleeping deeply on his back in a hospital gown and his burnt clothes hanging on the side.

"Komaeda!" Tsumiki squealed as she jumped by his side before checking his temperature, pulse… _and feeling his skin? Because of the burns I would guess._

"He appears to be under some sort of anaesthetic." Tsumiki said as she opened Komaeda's eyes lid. I briefly searched through Komaeda's burnt clothes for anything dangerous, but nothing showed up.

"Ibuki, stay here with Tsumiki. I'm going to explore the hospital." Togami ordered.

"But can't I go with youuuuuu?" Ibuki asked.

"No, everyone needs to be with someone at all times. Excluding me of course. It's likely Tsuki is in the other room Tsumiki, make sure you check on him. I expect a full report on each of them by the time I'm back." Togami ordered before leaving.

"Of course!" Tsumiki said as the door closed.

I peeked inside the other room to confirm my suspicions, Tsuki was deeply sleeping on his front. After quickly checking his burnt clothes I left the room to continue my investigation. A conference room, break room, the simple basics of a hospital, apart from other people being here.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Monokuma shouted at me from behind.

"Confiscating these medications." I replied.

"You can't do that! If you just take everything away, how can a murder occur?"

"That's my motivation if you haven't noticed. There will not be another murder."

"Puhu, you said that last time but someone still died! Ha, you suck at your job!"

"There's nothing against the rules of me taking these medicines." Togami argued.

"I guess not right now but since you've forced me…" Monokuma said before disappearing.

 ***Ding dong, bing bong***

 _There goes the announcement._

"Listen up! I'm adding a new rule, number 15! **You are not allowed to move material from their original buildings!** That would be stealing! So if ya feel like killing someone then do it where you got it! This excludes the supermarket though since everything there is free so basically you're buying it. Headmaster out… oh and fuck you Togami!" Monokuma said through the monitor.

 _I could have them all locked up inside a duralumin case but… the more I fight this killing game the more agitated and annoyed Monokuma gets… I should be careful; I fear that if I go too far he will start taking harsher action. For now, I'll just write down exactly what is here and make morning and nightly check-ups…_

 _…_

 _There all done, time to head back to Tsumiki…_

"Byakuya, Mikan is really freaky when doing her thing!" Ibuki said.

"Tsumiki, your report." Togami asked.

"Y-Yes sir!" Tsumiki replied. "Komaeda suffered from 3rd degree burns, broken bones in the leg region and a large amount of smoke inhalation, he's going to repertory support for this, surgery for his bones and skin graphing for the burns… or at least he should have!"

"Should have? What do you mean by that?" Togami asked.

"W-Well I don't really understand it myself… but it's as if the operation has already been done. His skin has already been patched, legs aren't broken but have scars of being broken and lungs cleaned… I-I really don't know how!" Tsumiki explained.

"What the…? Is this the same with Tsuki?" Togami asked.

"He's better off… only 2nd degree burns and little amounts of smoke had entered his lungs, but he legs were still broken and he has a scar from where Komaeda stabbed him yesterday… Like Komaeda, all the operations have been done as well." Tsumiki explained.

 _Ridiculous, she must be delusional._ I shoved Tsumiki aside and looked at Komaeda up close, his skin looked bad, but it didn't appear to be peeling like we saw the moment they left the fiery room.

"You liiike it? Monokuma asked from behind.

"This is your doing?" Togami asked.

"Well of course! If they're all broken and burnt how can they kill anyone?" Monokuma replied. "So I patched 'em up real good, however a side effect is that they'll be sleeping for who knows how long. When they wake up they won't be feeling as good as new but good enough…"

"Is that all?" Togami asked.

"What am I, an encyclopaedia?" Monokuma said annoyingly. "You're supposed to question the ethics of what I do so that I can come back with some despairing comment! Screw you!" He then stomped off childishly.

"Do you have anything else to add Tsumiki?" Togami asked.

"They should be asleep between 24 and 48 hours… but just in case something happens, I'd like to stay by their sides!" Tsumiki asked.

"As long as someone else is here. Now both of you follow me in Tsuki's room." Togami ordered. As we headed into Tsuki's, I checked his skin, it did look better than Komaeda's but Togami is not a medical expert.

"Tsumiki, why does Tsuki only have 2nd degree burns? If I remember correctly, they both fell at the same time." Togami asked.

"I-I was wondering that to… but since the wounds have already healed I can't really find out… but from the scars on his skin I can see that they were 2nd degree… His skin may just be more resistant." Tsumiki said.

"Hmm, it shouldn't matter. You two stay here, I'll go get the others." Togami said and left before Ibuki could complain.

* * *

"Hey Kuzuryū, hold on." I called after completing my search of the Music Venue

"What is it Hinata?" Kuzuryū asked.

"Why did you ask us in particular to come with you?" I asked.

"'Cuz you two piss me off the least, that's it." Kuzuryū replied.

"What… but why? That doesn't make any sense."

"Just shut up. Anyway what did you find on your search?"

"There isn't anything here, it's a small place." I replied. _As if you didn't know that. I wonder why he doesn't want to tell me? I don't want to be dragged into anything. Actually, it looks like he was trying to get away from someone instead of wanting to be with us…_

"Hey, hey." Chiaki called from away. "I think I found something in the storage room."

"Looks like _she_ found something." Kuzuryū said.

"What are you trying to say? You didn't find anything." I said before walking to the storage room.

"Huh?" I said as I entered the dark room, it's completely pitch black.

"Try switching on the light switch." Chiaki said somewhere in the dark.

"Why are the lights off?" I asked as I rubbed my hand to the wall to feel for the switch.

 **Clatter**

I knocked something over as I reached the switch. The lights flickered on and I saw the broom that I knocked over hit a stool, rocking it slightly so the tennis ball started rolling. It rolled off and down a makeshift ramp made from wallpaper into a plastic cup.

"Hey look, it made it." Chiaki said.

"What was that all about?" I asked in confusion.

"It was a Root Goldberg machine, where one object sets off a chain reaction." Chiaki said.

"I know that, but why?"

"I was bored." Chiaki replied. _So you made a Root Goldberg machine in the storage room and got me to set it off?_

"So you didn't find anything useful?" I asked.

"I did… look at the rope over there." Chiaki said as she pointed towards the rope.

"…Wh-What the…" _It looks like ordinary rope… and yet I can't get this chill out of my spine, probably because it's tied like a noose… with part of it frayed._

"There's also skin bits stuck to it if you look closely."

"What were you doing looking close to that thing?!"

"I was just investigating…"

"Oopsie! Did I forget to delete that?" Monokuma said from behind me, causing me to jump. "Puhu, I'm sure you two can guess what that can be used for…"

"We don't have any use for it…" Chiaki replied despondently.

"Yeah, I don't really want to see any suicides either." Monokuma said. "The last time one happened, it ended up in a bunch of slobby puke worthy hope."

"What is with this rope?" I asked.

"Isn't obvious? Its previous owner died a very unfortunate death." Monokuma replied.

"So one of this islands inhabitants hanged themselves?" I asked carefully.

"Well, the last time _certain people_ were on this, this rope was use to strangle someone first then make it look like a suicide! Can you believe it?" Monokuma said excitedly.

"But, why would they do that...?" Chiaki asked.

"Because they had to get off this island of course! They were in a killing game." Monokuma said.

"What...? So this really has happened before! Is that what the CD was about?" I asked.

"Nah, that was a different one. They were trapped inside Hope's Peak Academy, not on an island like the girl who died from this rope." Monokuma said.

"How many killing games have you started!?" I asked in annoyance.

"Who knows? This is like the fifth or so, I don't really know. But too bad for those that died last time."

"Who was on this island before?" I asked in horror.

"Puhu, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you. But you've met the person that met their death by that rope." Monokuma said before running off.

"Hey, come back here!" I shouted but to no avail.

"Ignore him." Chiaki said.

"Is it ok to ignore something like that? We saw that CD, there was another Killing Game!"

"I know that but… it's not possible for there to have been one on _this_ island." Chiaki said.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because… it's not possible."

 _Does she know something I don't? How can you be so sure about this?_

"Hinata, Nanami!" Kuzuryū called. "Togami just came by; he wants us to head to hospital."

* * *

"Soda, did you managed to crack the password yet?" Sato asked me.

"No, it's encrypted." I replied.

"Isn't this part of your job?"

"No! I'm a mechanic, not a technician or a hacker! But I did find something interesting, the password only secures certain files, I looked through some of the others and this is what I found…" I said before opening up a file. It was a variation of different world monuments destroyed and rebuilt horrible with Monokuma heads.

"Disgusting." Sato commented.

"Th-They aren't real right? These are just made up… they have to be!"

"It's hard to believe… but we're stuck on this island so we have no answers. Could of this really have happened?" Sato thought out loud.

"No way, how could something like this even be possible?! There's the police and the army and the government…" I said to be sure.

"Puhuhuhu, do you really trust those guys?" Monokuma said from behind the laptop.

"AHH! Where the hell did you come from!?" I shouted.

"What did you mean?" Sato asked.

"Well everyday of every week of every month of every year there's accusation after accusation of conspiracies behind them. Surely one of them have to be true don't you think?" Monokuma said cryptically.

"The government was behind this?" Sato asked suspiciously.

"Plot twist… I'M behind it all! Guaaaaaaahaha!" Monokuma laughed.

"Very funny." I said. "So you're behind all these fake photo's right?"

"I live by standards you know. One of them is to never forge objects! Those photos are real." Monokuma said.

"The world is destroyed… the world is destroyed… NO FRICKEN WAY!" I Shouted at him.

"That very counterproductive." Sato said. "Why would you tell us this if you want us to kill each other and get off this island?"

"Puhuhuhu, why would I?" Monokuma said before turning away but Sato chased him. "Out of the way!"

"Did you lock this laptop?" Sato asked.

"Nope! In fact, it's very different from what I remember… _like those discs and the DPA…_ huh, I _knew_ someone's been messing with things around here. The moment I find them…!" Monokuma said.

"Wait, you don't know the password?" I asked.

"Ooops, I've said too much." Monokuma said before running off.

"That was suspicious." I said.

"Indeed, I believe Monokuma is hiding something."

"I can believe that… but has the world really been destroyed?"

"I don't think so." Sato said. "Why would Monokuma try to get us to kill each other just to escape to a world that has been destroyed? He's just trying to mess with us and didn't think it through."

"Y-Yeah…" _That makes this easier to swallow._

"Did you find any more information?" Pekoyama asked as she approached us. "I found nothing."

"This laptop may contain something useful, but we'll have to figure out the password. Soda, can you keep it until then?" Sato asked me sweetly.

"O-Of course…" _She's kinda hot when she talks like that…_

"Togami came by." Pekoyama interrupted. "He wants us to go to the hospital together, for a group meeting."

* * *

"Yet another empty room, so no one really is living here." I said to myself. As me and Tanaka entered the motel to investigate, we split up to cover more ground, even though he said he had little interest in performing the labour. _Perhaps I should head back… every room is the same, small neat bed and a bathroom. Ok, I'll call for Tanaka._

"Tanaka, are you nearby?" I called.

…

 _No answer, I'll go looking then._

…

I then found myself at a half open door.

"Tanaka?" I asked as I peeked inside. There he was, kneeled on one before a large black and white dog.

"The curse that I bear shackled to my arm will no longer hold me hostage, I am more than just a vessel for its power." Tanaka mumbled with his face to the floor. I stayed quiet and watched. "In fact, this day I declare myself it's master!"

" **Woof!** "

"What? So you deny it? Is that how you want this to be?" Tanaka responded to the dog. "Well I shall not be controlled by a weakling like you, your power has been diminishing from your failure against Deathwing some millennia ago."

" **Woof.** "

"Kehehe, did I bring out an old wound? Then admit it and bow down to me!"

" **Woof!** "

"Stubborn old demon, then face my wrath!" Tanaka shouted before he lifted his fist and slammed the floor before the dog, causing it to look up surprised.

 **SLAM**

Tanaka then stood up and placed the palms of his hand together.

"Now kneel before me and do my bidding!"

" **Woof.** "

"You dare you think you can take the Four Dark Devas of Destruction as hostage? They are my responsibility; I shall not let you harm them!" His hamsters then leaped from his shoulder and started running around the dog. The dog lifted his noise to one of them but they retreated.

" **Woof!** "

"Cham-P resists your attack, you're no match for his defence!"

" **Woof! Woof!** " The dog then jumped to a different hamster but they ran out the way.

"Maga-Z deftly avoids your pitiful attack; his evasiveness is too much for a slow witted demon like you. Jump-P, strike it with your golden wing attack!" The hamster then ran up the dogs leg and onto his back.

" **Aruuu!** "

"Fuhahaha! You are mortally wounded fool; you shall rue the day you fought against Gundham Tanaka! Now end him Jump-P and…!" The dog turned his attention to a different hamster and started chasing him around.

" **Woof! Woof! Woof!** "

"San-D, what are you doing? You're not in fit condition to battle you fool!" Tanaka shouted as the small white and orange hamster scurried around him. "Take cover!"

" **Woof!** "

The hamster, presumably Sand-D, ran circles around Tanaka before running to the door at me.

"Ah!" I gasped in surprise.

"Hm? San-D? What are you doing, touching a mere mortal is forbidden!" Tanaka shouted by San-D had already climbed around my dress and out of my sight. The sat still in the room now.

"A-Ah, that tickles!" I said before Tanaka approached me.

"San-D, come out this instance!" Tanaka ordered before the hamster slowly appeared on my shoulder. "I owe you my thanks, you saved San-D's life."

"I did…?" I replied. "Well that was fortunate, he is a very cute hamster."

"Oh… thank you." Tanaka said as he hid himself with his scarf.

"Where did you find such an adorable dog?" I asked before taking a closer look at him. He had a long thick black and white coat with floppy ears and a bushy tail.

"A dog he is now, but just a few moments ago a demon had possessed him. Luckily I was here to free him. Now San-D come back to me." Tanaka asked and the hamster jumped from my shoulder to his scarf.

"Wow! They're very skilful. I hope the dog didn't mean to harm him."

"It wasn't the dog; it was the demon but he is now gone." Tanaka corrected. "The dog's name is Lucky, he's an inbred Old English Sheep Dog but due to his upbringing he's likely forgotten how to herd sheep."

"Is he one of your dogs?" I asked.

"No, I found him here and he deducted this information from my dark sources. How this dog got here is beyond me, for now." Tanaka admitted.

"So this is where you two were." Togami called as he approached us. "I've been…"

" **Woof!"**

"…What?" Togami asked in confusion.

"Tanaka found him here." I summed up.

"…So this is what Monokuma meant by we would find another living being… a dog." Togami realised. "Best keep him with you two, for now I want you both to head to the hospital where we're all going gathering. I'll join you after getting everyone." Togami said before heading off.

"Lucky follow me." Tanaka ordered and the dog stay by his side with a wagging tale. "What a pitiful name, I'll give you a more fitting one at a later time."

"I see you have already tamed him, your talents are very impressive." I complimented.

"He's city bred and has served humans for his whole life… unfortunately." Tanaka replied. _Even though they just met, Tanaka already knows a lot of Lucky here. Can he really talk to animals?_

* * *

"Already ladies, it's time for the movie!" Monokuma announced at the theatre doors.

"Should we really be doing this? Monokuma did make this…" I said unsurely.

"Of course Koizumi!" Saionji said before walking inside with Owari behind here.

"It's just a movie, come on!" Owari encouraged.

"Alright." I agreed heading in.

* * *

 **Monokuma and the Beanstalk**

"There once was a farmer bear known as Monokuma. He was a lazy and hated doing hard work, so one day he went into his farther room and cut him up."

 _'Cardboard Monokuma jumps through the window with a saw.'_

"He then sold his father's limbs to loan sharks and got rich by stealing their money leading him to a life of luxury."

 _'Monokuma with a monocle, sipping wine on a king sized bed.'_

"But then the loan sharks came back and beat the living shit out of Monokuma, and took their money back."

 _'Monokuma getting beaten up.'_

"Monokuma had to go back to the farm, but instead of working for a living he sold the farm and everything he owned."

 _'Monokuma carrying farm animals to a store.'_

"After a luxurious life of living again, Monokuma encountered another problem. His mother which he had enslaved as a maid had ran away with all his cash but had left behind a message.

 _'Note stuck the door saying 'Fuck you, how did I even have a bear as a child anyway?''_

"Enraged and angry, Monokuma stomped towards the closest store and demanded they do something about it. The owner responded with 'Does it look like I give a damn?' before throwing Monokuma out."

 _'Monokuma getting thrown out the window.'_

"This made Monokuma even more annoyed so he grabbed the only thing left in his house, a plant pot and threw at the shop owner, demanding for him to relieve himself of all his cash. The shop owner threw back a cow before locking his shop."

 _'Monokuma getting squished by a cow.'_

"Monokuma brought back the cow to his house and ate it, because that's how the circle of life. But what Monokuma didn't realise was that after he ate the cow the meat inside him was magical. So on a stormy night, when Monokuma was sleeping outside because the land lord tore down his house, the magical meat grew tenfold due to the cow being vegan before it died."

 _'Monokuma has a stalk growing out of his behind.'_

"With the power of veganism, a giant stalk started growing of his ass and rooted itself into the soil nearby before sprouting into the sky. Monokuma cut the root from himself and started climbing up the vines until he reached the clouds."

 _'Monokuma in the clouds.'_

"In the land of the clouds, Monokuma found a giant Monomi that lived in a castle with a golden human. Monokuma learnt that the human would go to the earth world and make friends everyone they met before leaving them forever. This cycle would repeat again and again until every human was left broken hearted.

 _'Monokuma peeking on the giant Monomi and golden human that is unidentifiable.'_

"Monokuma decided to put a stop to this by beating up the giant Monomi and taking control so that no one's heart would be broken ever again. He also enslaved both Monomi and the golden human to do his every bidding leading to his happily ever after.

 **The end**

* * *

"That was the most boring movie ever!" Saionji complained.

"No kidding, I almost fell asleep." Owari added on.

"I've been waiting for you three." Togami said from the entrance. "Anything worth reporting?"

"No… the movie in there was really weird though." I said.

"How so?" Togami asked.

"It was like… a parody of the kids' tale Jack and the Beanstalk but…" I tried to explain.

"But awful!" Saionji finished.

"Nothing useful then I take it." Togami assumed.

"Well there was one section that was really weird and not at all related to the story." I said. "I think there's supposed to be a golden egg laying hen but instead it was a golden human. Their story just seemed really out of place and random…"

"Best not try to understand Monokuma's creativity, priorities are getting off this island and avoiding a killing." Togami advised. "We're going to head back to the hospital, everyone else is waiting for you there."

"What happened?" I asked.

"You'll see, now follow me." Togami ordered. _Still really forceful, but at least he's toned it down a bit. I still can't get the bit of the movie out of my head, a golden human that make's friends with people they meet before leaving them forever… why would that ever happen?_

We walked as a group to the hospital entrance, where we saw Tanaka waiting with a large dog.

"Wow that's a big dog." I commented.

"Yeah, it's even bigger then Saionji!" Owari commented.

"Don't compare a dumb mutt to me!" Saionji said.

"This 'mutt' as you call would easily outsmart the likes of you." Tanaka replied.

"Stop your childish argument." Togami interrupted. "Tanaka is just watching the dog out here since we can't allow animals inside the hospital. Everything will be explained inside."

We followed Togami into the main lobby of the hospital where mostly everyone was gathered.

"Now everyone be quiet." Togami shouted over everyone. "A new island means there are a lot of dangerous items for potential murder. You all heard Monokuma's announcement before so to counter this I've locked these lethal items in a duralumin case at each respect area, none of you will be able to unlock these."

"Do you really trust us all that little?" I asked.

"I'm taking the necessary precautions." Togami replied. "Once we've established an understanding where no murders will be attempted, we can focus on getting off this island. That is a later problem though, for now we must wait until we have everyone together. Both Tsuki and Komaeda are in the patients wards past the door, they're under anaesthetic and will be asleep for one to two days. I want people on sentry duty though, day and night. Tsumiki is already staying here as the nurse, any offers?"

No one immediately offered, it like a laborious task. _This is the exact kinda thing a boy should offer up to._

"Hey! Shouldn't one of you boys be offering?" I called out.

"I don't want to do this as much as you do." Soda retorted.

"I need two volunteers so they can rotate duties." Togami said.

"Will it be for the whole time?" Pekoyama asked.

"Yes, constant shifts in people will make it more complicated. I need two people for a maximum of 48hours." Togami explained.

"Ugh, who's going to offer up to that?" Saionji remarked.

"I don't see a problem for someone to do." Kuzuryū commented.

"Then how about you offer?" I asked.

"Hell no, I ain't spending my whole time here!" Kuzuryū replied.

"Fine, I'll offer then." Pekoyama said.

"No way, you offered to do this before at the party. It's a boys turn!" I argued.

"I'm inclined to agree." Togami backed up to my surprise. "Both patients are male and we already have a female offering, Tsumiki. And if anything does happen we'll need at least brute strength to get this done. Two males should offer up."

"But aren't the girls more stronger?" Ibuki remarked. "We got Peko with her sword, Akiko with her bow and Akane with her boobs!"

"Koizumi's argument still holds and the patients are still male. I still want two males to volunteer or I will pick them personally." Togami said. _I didn't expect him to back my point up so much._

…

"Fine, I'll chose then." Togami said to break the silence. "It's out of Hinata, Kuzuryū and Soda."

"W-What!? How is that it!?" Soda replied.

"Hanamura and Nidai are dead. I'm busy with my own investigation on getting us off this island and Tanaka is naturally taking care of the dog and can't bring him inside a hospital. Komaeda and Tsuki are sleeping. There are no other boys."

"Then two of you offer up!" I said.

"I don't want to do this." Hinata said.

"Yeah, this sounds boring as hell. We don't need anyone on sentry." Soda commented.

"This is fucking stupid." Kuzuryū said.

"Then all three of will take part." Togami said. "Two on at a time and you can rotate by yourself."

 _"But…!"  
"Hold on!"  
"C'mon man!"_

"That is all, everyone meet up at dinner or the next time Monokuma makes an announcement. Until then inform me of any problems." Togami said. "For now you're all on free time, dismissed."

* * *

 **If you didn't understand the title to this chapter you should realise in a later chapter, not that my titles ever really make much sense.**


	7. Chapter 6 - Answers lead to despair

Chapter 6 – If you're looking for answers, you'll find despair.

* * *

"I messed up super hard Kiri! How could I let Monokuma manipulate me like that…? I lost hope on camera… I'm such a moron." Naegi complained to me.

"I think it's of little consequence." I replied.

"Huh?"

"We're the enemy to Future Foundation, they no doubt know everything that has happened." I explained. "Everything still is on camera and they know where we are. That stunt may have been just Junko's way of getting back at you."

"Oh…You don't think there was an ulterior motive?"

"Not one that we can prove."

"As always you're right. Do you have any idea on what we can do now though? We're still trapped in this funhouse and there isn't any escape at all!"

"We're low on options, we could wait for Remnants of Despair to find us on this island if Monokuma allows that."

"How long will that be…?" Naegi pondered. "They have access to the first island with their cottages. Monokuma skipped the second island, the beach one, and instead opened up the third island with the hospital. We're trapped on the fourth island in this Funhouse and there is also the fifth island unopened as well. Since Monokuma isn't opening up the islands in natural order our island could be opened up either after the next trial or… or any trial!"

"We won't get anything accomplished waiting around but we can't escape either…" I said before thinking about our situation for a while. "…We have two objectives for now, the first one is to figure out what Monokuma is doing and the second one is find a way to relay that information to Future Foundation in hopes that they'll get us out of here."

"What about stopping the Killing Game?" Naegi asked. "I can't just watch it go by again!"

"We're stuck on options Naegi and you know that. All we can do now is search for the truth."

"What about the Future Foundation? Aren't they going to come rescue us?"

"Depends on their view of us. Some of them may think we're not worth it while others may be fighting to get us out."

"Asahina! There's no way she would just sit by and watch this happen." Naegi realised.

"Good point, but what is she going to do? Hire a boat, sail to Jabberwock island and get us out here herself?"

"I wouldn't put it past her… I hope she doesn't do anything reckless."

"Like you just did, getting us trapped in this situation?" I reminded.

"…! I didn't mean for this to happen!"

"I know; this was a risk we took by entering so I won't hold it against you. But that also begs the question, how did the impossible happen and the game restart? Just another question we can't answer."

"Guh… I hate being stuck in here!" Naegi complained. "It's just… not being able to physically do anything!"

"Protagonist syndrome." Monokuma said as he appeared before us.

"Wha-?" Naegi said in shock.

"That's what I'm calling it, when the protagonist from the previous game desperately wants the spotlight from the current one. A bit like how washed up celebrities end up depressed when they become unpopular, of course they usually commit suicide."

"That's messed up! And how can you still be calling this a game!?" Naegi argued.

"Because it is, we're still in the virtual world you know!" Monokuma replied.

"Ask something more relevant Naegi." I reminded.

"Right… Junko! What happens when this game finishes? Are the Remnants of Despair going to live?" Naegi asked.

"I have no idea."

"What!?" Naegi shouted.

"I literally have no clue." Monokuma said. "All this stuff about avatars and uploads and stuff gets real complicated after a game reset and a bunch of software change. Even I can't keep up with it and I'm a bloody AI!"

"But…"

"If someone can finally commit a crime and get away with it, they should still graduate." Monokuma explained. "Let's say they kill and graduate, I wonder if they actually live…"

"Why wouldn't they?" Naegi asked.

"Because it might be too much." I said after collecting my thoughts. "Most of them have already died, that alone reduces the chance of survival by _almost_ 100%, they would need a _miracle_ to wake up. What's interesting is that the restart actually did bring them back alive, in full working condition as well."

"That's the work of the Neo world isn't it?"

"The Neo World works by first editing the user's current memories, similar to how Monokuma did to ours in our Killing Game, before uploading their consciousness into the virtual world as an avatar. The memories created in the virtual world would replace the memories forgotten about and the avatar would be uploaded back to the user. Certain features such as death was never considered since this project was and still is unfinished."

"Then what happened during the restart?" Naegi asked.

"While the avatar should have reset back to its original form, the consciousness is still uploaded into the Neo World, meaning the damage dealt to it through death may remain. Even if someone who died last time graduates this time, they may still never wake up, or even just wake up to just die in a few minutes. Any injuries they sustain could become real…"

"That's so cruel…" Naegi desponded.

"Hold it right there!" Monokuma interrupted. "Let's get a professional opinion on this then, I'm sure you'll welcome Alter Ego!"

"H-Hello." Alter Ego greeted as a digital holographic like version of himself appeared.

"Alter Ego!" Naegi called.

"Th-That was a very good explanation Kirigiri, you have your facts straight." Alter Ego complimented.

"I get my facts straight before I do a job." I replied before giving Naegi a glare.

"No need to thank me, I found Alter Ego here lost in the digital wilds so I brought him here." Monokuma said.

"What's happening outside of this world?" Naegi asked.

"I-I don't know!" Alter Ego replied. "I was cut off from the Future Foundation after the reset, my only residing point was the Neo World. They permanently kicked me out of HQ."

"Wha… What!?" Naegi said in shock.

"Then they've figured us out." I said. "Alter Ego was the main database of the 14th branch, our branch, in the Future Foundation."

"That's right." Alter Ego carried on. "That's where I'm mostly based but I do I help most of the other branches some time… or at least I used to."

"So Future Foundation weren't happy with Naegi's plan to cure the Remnants of Despair." I explained. "They likely shut down our branch, and since Alter Ego mainly specialised with us they must have deemed him a traitor as well and gotten rid of him."

"Well gotten rid isn't the right word…" Alter Ego said, slightly hurt. "The first rule of data is that it's near impossible to delete completely, so it's really hard for Future Foundation to get rid of me. Although now I feel terrible that they actually do want to!"

"Don't worry Alter Ego, we'll get you out of here as well." Naegi comforted. "I'd never leave a friend behind, especially one that saved my life!"

"I-It was nothing!" Alter Ego replied. "I should thank you for coming back to Hope's Peak to rescue me out of the database… you could do that again or maybe carry my data on a USB stick. Although when I stopped your execution it was really close… you sure are lucky."

"Man, you guys are so insensitive." Monokuma said. "I worked hard on that execution, but clearly the real me sucks at computers since I couldn't even delete you properly. It's alright though, she's dead."

"Alter Ego can you give us any new information?" I asked, ignoring Monokuma's comments.

"N-Not really, I really have very little power this time around. But I did pick up a connection of at least _one new avatar_ … Sorry that's all I've got…"

"It's alright… every piece of info is helpful at a time like this." Naegi said.

"Why though?" I asked. "Why was another avatar uploaded Naegi?"

"It's likely Tsuki's considering the possibilities… if he really is alive and not an AI. But I've never heard of his or Sato's AI being developed." Naegi said.

"But why would Future Foundation place him in the Neo World with his memories wiped?" I asked.

"Do you think they're going ahead with the Hope Restoration plan?" Naegi said optimistically.

"Doubtful, _we_ are still stuck in here." I reminded. "If this new avatar belongs to Tsuki, then why has Future Foundation placed him in here? If the avatar doesn't belong to him though, then who does this avatar belong to? Why would more AI's be created of supposedly dead people, that was only ever supposed to be a on off class mate. We need to figure out what happened to Kettei Tsuki during the tragic world incident. Care to explain Monokuma?"

"Nope. That's a spoiler."

"Alter Ego?" I asked.

"There was no new data on him the I had access to, his last current status was **'Matching blood found inside Hope's Peak class 77 room but body was missing with 4 other classmates. All were likely killed by class 77.'** " Alter Ego recounted.

"I remember the scene… there was sooo much blood in that room." Naegi said.

"But this is Tsuki we're talking about, it was still possible he could be alive." I reminded.

"Ahh, that reminds me when I threw 'em all in Despair and they first started killing, those were the days." Monokuma said.

"Can you confirm whether the two new students are AI's or not?" I asked Alter Ego.

"No I can't, I've lost most of my privileges, I can no longer send data to Monomi either…" Alter Ego replied.

"Where is Monomi?" Naegi asked.

"I took away her teleportation powers so she can't come to see you guys." Monokuma said. "That useless rabbit probably doesn't even know you guys are here. Why the hell did you even design a rabbit?"

"That was er… my idea." Naegi admitted. "The Future Foundation banned creating AI's that looked like real people, and since we didn't base her off anyone in reality she had to be an animal."

"I see, I see." Monokuma said.

"Naegi you're disclosing private information." I reminded.

"Ah!"

"Hey, this just a question but I found a tiny bit of Mukuro personality lost in there, were you planning on recreating her?" Monokuma asked.

"How did you…? That was the plan but…" Naegi started to say but I interrupted him.

"Togami shut it down, it was too risky of a plan for now." I said. "We have no business in reviving the dead."

"Isn't that AI over there a revival the dead?" Monokuma said as he pointed at Alter Ego. "And the real me is dead remember. Death doesn't mean jack squat anymore!"

"Well I'm not an exact replica of my master… we have slight differences in personality." Alter Ego corrected.

"I feel perfectly the same though!" Monokuma exclaimed. "Just even smarter."

"That's because your AI was stolen off the talents Fujisaki had before them memory wipe." I said.

"I also had Izuru work on it as well, you know him having every talent possible is pretty useful." Monokuma said. "Anyway that's enough out of you all, I've got a Killing Game to watch over."

"Wait Junko!" Naegi called. "What was the point of this? Why did you just spend all this time talking to us?"

"I felt like it, the others can get pretty boring at times since they forgot everything." Monokuma simply put before disappearing but leaving behind his echoing voice. "Discussions with you guys keep the real audience kept up!"

"Well we know more now but we still can't do anything." Naegi said.

"I'm sorry I can't be more of use." Alter Ego apologized. "While I'm not bound by the rules I don't have permission to alter anything, so I'm trapped in here with you all."

"That's alright." Naegi said.

"Alter Ego do you know if the cameras are live?" I asked.

"Hmm, they are displaying video footage from the Killing School Trip to Future Foundation but not from the Funhouse. We are being recorded but it's not being displayed… I can't touch the feed though…" Alter Ego explained.

"Ok."

 _Monokuma is trapped in here as well, not in the Funhouse but in the Neo World. Perhaps this is a sort of jail for him by the Future Foundation, but why does he have so much power then? There's also that failed trial I witness where Hinata was executed for a crime I'm sure he didn't commit, meaning someone is above the rules and can alter them at his will. But why would he rig the trial? Surely he wants someone to graduate as a Remnant of Despair and spread despair… no that's impossible, the Future Foundation would just kill them on sight. So why was the real killer not allowed to graduate…? There are a lot of parties involved in this… we have the Remnants of Despair, Monokuma, the agents of Future Foundation trapped inside here and the Future Foundation outside the Neo World._

 _Everyone has their own goals, causing clashes in information and covering the truth… This mystery needs to be untangled string from string so that the rope of mist can unveil the reality we are in… our first step is figuring out why the participants this time is has been enlarged and what the roles of the two new students are…_

* * *

"Soda, can we swap?" I called out.

"No way Hinata! I don't want to be in that room with the psycho!" Soda shouted back before heading back into Tsuki's room.

 _I don't want to be anywhere near Nagito either… ugh whatever, he's out cold it shouldn't matter._ I walked into Komaeda's room, just being near this guy gave me the shivers.

"Tsumiki, Nagito is asleep right?" I asked just to make sure.

"H-He most certainly is… the anaesthetic Monokuma gave him and Tsuki must have been of industrial size due to how effective it is." Tsumiki explained.

"So there's no chance of him waking up soon?"

"N-None at all! It would take a fully grown adult male at least 30 hours to wake up, but for two teenage males it would be a minimum of 36 hours but more likely 48!"

 _Well that's both good and bad news. Nagito being asleep will stop any more trouble happening but it also means I'm stuck on guard duty for even longer. Two whole days in this hospital… ugh._

"Woah ho how hoe there!" Monokuma interrupted as he strode in. "Have you still not read the notice? It says you're not allowed sleep unless you are a patient or staff here!"

"Why do you have to get in the way of everything?" I argued.

"OI! I came here to offer an agreement." Monokuma said. "My advisor told me to so… you're all free to stay."

"Wh-What!?" I said in confusion.

"Considering you're all guarding this place, that means you guys are staff!" Monokuma announced. "Night guard Hajime, Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko reporting for duty! How long before the three cowards high tail it out of here?"

"Cowards!?"

"Of course you're all going to need something to defend yourself with! I summon forth Monomi!" Monokuma said before a puff of smoke covered my vision for a few seconds until it cleared, revealing Monomi.

"Monokuma, please stop teleporting me around!" Monomi begged.

"No, now I need you to be an example." Monokuma said before bringing out a baseball bat and putting on a police hat. "You gotta keep your eyes peeled for anything, if you see anything suspicious…" Monokuma then proceeded to strike Monomi with the bat constantly.

 **BANG THWACK POW**

"Beat the living shit out of it!" Monokuma said maniacally.

"Ow! Oh no, violence is a big no no while on a school trip! Yeeooow!" Monomi said.

"Here ya go." Monokuma said before throwing the bat at me, I caught it at the last second.

"What am I supposed to use this for?" I asked.

"Did you not just see the damn explanation!?" Monokuma shouted.

"Why would I have to use this?"

"Oh I see, you don't think anyone is going to try and kill you?" Monokuma asked.

"W-Well o-of course not…!" Tsumiki replied.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, at any night someone could just get out of bed and try to stab you!" Monokuma said before running off with Monomi by her ears.

"Uwah!" Monomi cried before disappearing from view.

"Monokuma scares me…" Tsumiki said lightly.

"He definitely is… random." I replied. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"W-Well Togami will probably take the bat away like he did with everything else." Tsumiki mentioned.

"I'll just leave it here." I said before putting it in the corner of the room. _It's not like there isn't any credit to what Monokuma is saying… I don't feel entirely safe while on this island but do we really need to go to such lengths? Togami even forcing us on guard duty while those two are unconscious, will another killing really happen? I highly doubt I'd have to use that bat… and I really don't want to since it came from Monokuma._

"H-Hajime… I'm not used to this you know." Tsumiki said.

"Not used to what?"

"T-Taking care of people like this…"

"But aren't you the Ultimate Nurse?"

"Y-Yes I am… but the thing is… usually I'm directly involved in treating the patients! D-Disinfecting, providing medical equipment, reading charts, providing antibiotics, or even just administering the anaesthetics! B-But Monokuma has already done everything…"

"Um… isn't that a good thing Tsumiki?"

"W-Well in a way y-yes…! But that means _I_ haven't done anything to help them…! A-All I'm doing is watching over them pointlessly, I-I haven't done anything to help them!" Tsumiki said in a panic.

 _So she's complaining that all the work was already done and that she couldn't do it…?_

"So you want to be the one that helps them?" I asked.

"Y-Yes I do! Y-You see Hinata, as a nurse my patients become reliant on me... at that moment they become completely dependent on me and need me… but not here! Monokuma has already done everything!" Tsumiki said highly stressed.

"C-Calm down Tsumiki… I really don't think it's like that."

"H-Huh?"

"I'm sure they'll be grateful just that you were here watching over them."

"Y-You think so?"

"Yeah I do." I responded. _Well I can't really be sure for Nagito…_ "The fact that you offered to stay here on your own free will is enough for them to thank you."

"Th-Thank me…? Th-Thank me… thank me… th-that makes me feel better. Thank you Hinata."

"N-No problem…" _Her sudden mood swings is really unnerving._

"Don't worry, if you ever get hurt or fall in I'll keep watch over you constantly! Then you'll have to rely on me!" Tsumiki said excitedly.

"L-Lets not hope for that…" I said before trying to think of a way to excuse myself from her glare. "H-Hey Tsumiki, maybe you should check on Tsuki? You've been here for a while."

"O-Of course! Maybe he's got a fever!" Tsumiki said too excitedly before dashing off.

 _Did I even give her advice or something during that conversation? And why do I feel like she's looking at me through the walls? I'm clearly stressed out, maybe it because I'm near Nagito… It's not even time for Kuzuryū's shift, he's probably catching sleep in the on call room._

…

I took a glance at the bat on the floor. _I don't need to use that if Nagito wakes up… right? No, Monokuma was just messing with me._

* * *

Sonia's Personal Investigation

 **Something is up! There are mysteries wrapped around mysteries on this island and Sonia is determined to figure it all out! Starting with an investigation of the recently opened island.**

Location – Music Venue

Upon entering I noticed Ibuki, Mahiru, Saionji and Akiko were already there.

"Greetings everyone, may I ask what you are doing here?" I asked.

"Sooniaaaaaaaaaa!" Ibuki called. "Would you like to listen to a song done by your very own Ibuki?"

"A song? That we be very nice to hear." I replied.

"Too bad! You'll have to wait for the totally rad party we're gonna have!" Ibuki said.

"A party?"

"Ibuki wants to host a party to celebrate Komaeda and Tsuki's survival once they wake up." Akiko explained. "This as the venue, it would be refreshing."

"The last party didn't go too well you know?" Mahiru mentioned.

"Yeah, Mr Ham Hands failed really hard last time." Saionji mentioned.

"Nonsensical!" Ibuki countered. "Byakuya already gave me permission so once the guys wake we can make 'em work again to set this par-tay!"

"Hmm, this reminds me of how the Titanic 2 crashed and other similar circumstances." I mumbled. "But nevertheless, if Togami is alright with it them perhaps we should amend our mistakes and do it right this time."

"Well, I suppose if everyone is alright with it as well." Mahiru conceded. "But we're still having our tea party this afternoon, I've invited and gotten all the girls to come apart from Tsumiki, she really doesn't want leave the hospital."

"I can respect her commitment to her profession." Akiko commented.

"We didn't need that nasty pig trash anyway!" Saionji mentioned.

"You weren't smelling too well Hiyoko not so long ago." Akiko said.

"Yeah well Mikan smells much worse!" Saionji retorted.

"Ibuki isn't too sure about that! Hoyoko-yoko smelt reaaaaaly bad!" Ibuki chanted.

"Hey! Stop it, you music dancing whore!" Saionji retorted.

"Excuse me, but Saionji smells just fine to me." I said.

"It was just a dressing problem Sonia, Hiyoko didn't know how to untie her kimono." Mahiru explained.

"And me and big sis Mahiru washed each other!" Saionji added on.

"D-Don't just say that out loud." Mahiru said embarrassed.

"Ohoho, you should have invited Ibuki as well!" Ibuki said.

"Yeah… no!" Saionji replied.

"There's no need to be embarrassed Mahiru, it was very nice of you to help out." Akiko praised.

"W-Well you helped with the knot." Mahiru said.

"Both me and Saionji have traditional Japanese knots on our kimonos, although hers is more complicated." Akiko explained. "Dancers are known for having a lot more intricate but stylish knots, mine is a simpler knot suitable for a warrior."

"How nice of the both of you." I said.

"Anyway." Mahiru said. "I've got some preparations for the tea party so I need to go."

"Well I look forward to it Mahiru, thank you for hosting one so we can all get along." I said.

"Oh, no problem." Mahiru responded.

"Now if you'll excuse me I have something to look at." I said to excuse myself to the downstairs storage room. _Before,_ _when I asked everyone for any suspicious items that they may have noticed, Hinata said something about a noose down here… there it is!_

I pulled out my DPA (Digital Photo Album) and held it near the rope. _Well last time it ate the disc before turning it into a clue, but I cannot see how this thing would eat something this large… ah!_ A scanner like beam of light was expelled from the DPA and started analysing the noose.

 **Clue 2 "The Death Noose."  
This rope was originally used for strangulation and then made to look like suicide in the first Killing Game held on this island, however since then the Noose has claimed a victim each time a Killing Game was held in its presence.**

 _What a fascinating object… a bit like how cursed Japanese swords must draw blood before being sheathed. Maybe this is cursed? Also there has been multiple other Killing Game's held on this island? How many victims have fallen to it? At least two others…_

I left the noose behind and headed out, having a quick chit chat to the other girls before departing to my next location.

Location – Electronic Street

 _He should be here… Sato mentioned the laptop would be of valuable intel._

"M-Miss Sonia! You came to see me!?" Soda said ecstatically.

"Indeed Soda… I would like to know if you've gotten farther in decoding the laptop." I responded.

"W-Well I've gotten slightly farther, but you know you can call me Kazuichi!"

"No. Now please show me what you've learned."

"Oh, ok… Here I found this before." Soda said as he brought up pictures of the world outside destroyed.

 **BZZT**

"M-Miss Sonia, you're v-v-vibrating!"

"Huh? Oh, the DPA is vibrating!"

"O-Oh..."

I brought out the DPA and once again it began scanning, this time the laptop.

 **Clue 3 "Destroyed World"  
Following the most despair inducing incident ever witnessed by all of mankind the world began to riot and fall into anarchy. Roughly 30% kept hope but during the events of the first official Killing Game that was broadcasted, where the students defined as 'Hope' killed each other this amount dropped to roughly under 10%.**

"How tragic… my entire kingdom has been destroyed with the rest of the world." I mourned.

"D-Don't fret Miss Sonia, once we get out of here we can repopu-"

" **Updating…** "The DPA announced in its robotic voice.

"Huh?"

" **Clue 1 Updated.** "

I quickly scrolled to Clue 1.

 **Clue 1. "The First Official Killing School Game."  
15 students of the 78** **th** **class were trapped in Hope's Peak Academy, had their memories erased and forced to kill each other on camera. Currently 2 out of 15 students have been discovered.**

 **Makoto Naegi – The Ultimate Good Luck Student  
Chihiro Fujisaki – The Ultimate Programmer**

 **14 Remaining. Survivors unknown.**

"Hmm, I wonder what happened to them…"

"Miss Sonia, surely you don't believe in this crap?"

"Soda I did not ask for your opinion."

"Wh-What!? Oh…" Soda pouted.

"Is there anything on this laptop?"

"No, I haven't been able to crack the code yet…"

"Then I shall make my departure." I said before leaving hastily.

"Wait…!"

Location – Cinema

I spent a while watching 'Monokuma and the Beanstalk'

…

 _What a horrible film. I remember a fairy tale of similar concept but it was banned in my country. The character of Jack was defined as sadistic due to deciding to steal and kill from the giant without talking to it first…_

"Really? You hate it as well!?" Monokuma complained.

"It was not very well designed, if I do say so myself." I answered.

"Well, would you say you would pay 1.5 million dollars to not watch it?" Monokuma.

"Unfortunately money isn't really an object of much value to me."

"Gah, stupid princess wealth. Well you someone did a few cycles ago. A reserve course chum paid me that not to watch it!"

"A 'Reserve Course Chum?' What is that and who are they?" I asked.

"How do I say this right… a nobody. The reserve course was set up by Hope's Peak as a private school for rich kids to give a bunch of money to fund Hope's Peak. Reserve Course students are just talentless normal people." Monokuma explained.

"Well how else would they able to afford such expenses? It sounds harsh but this sort of procedure is necessary in any sort of business. Although I do not agree with the low value you place on their lives."

"Lives schimes, a talentless scum has no place in here."

"Oh, I was under the impression that you got only Ultimates to participate in these Killing Games."

"Oh I do; this was a one off exception. Although he was special in a sort of way… Ok enough spoilers, I'll update your DPA. Cya!" Monokuma shouted before flying through the wall.

 **Clue 4 "The Reserve Course Block"  
A separate building owned Hope's Peak to fund various costs. Ordinary students pay high prices to attend this school but are not allowed any interactions with the main course. Holds up to 2000 students at once.**

 _That's it for now, I feel like I've learnt a lot but am still missing a lot of important details. I'll report my learning once I feel like I've made enough progress._

"Sonia? What demon has called you here?" Tanaka asked from the entrance.

"Oh, I was just investigating. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I was taking Lucky for a walk, unfortunately he's a dumb mutt for his breeds standards but a worthy guardian, one that rivals a familiar."

"Oh really? In what way?"

"His whole life has been dedicated to protecting his owner… how pitiful."

"In what way?"

"This mutt has been forced into protection duty, his life has been dedicated to protecting a low child. Is such a feat fair?" Tanaka asked.

"Well is that not the duty of a dog? To protect his owner?"

"What rights dictate that this dog's life can be commanded? What makes his life lower than that of a child?"

"I see you view animals very highly Tanaka… you must not be a fan of zoo's then."

"Those hell holes are hypocrites, they claim to be protecting animals when in reality they're just keeping them shackled in tanks and artificial plains… the very mention of one disgusts me!" Tanaka spat before turning his back and walking off with the dog following.

 _I appear to have mentioned something he hates… but he was very passionate about hating it. I wonder where that originates from… Regardless I must not bring up such a topic again in his presence…_

 _Investigation Complete!_

 _Truth Trial at 10%_

* * *

 _ **Rustle rustle**_

 _I'm being followed._

 _ **Crack rustle**_

 _Small body, light steps_

 _ **Crackle rustle crack**_

 _Slightly clumsy, very jumpy… stop analysing and turn to the problem!_

Togami turned around and faced the forest behind him.

"Ibuki get out of the bushes." Togami called.

 **Rustle crack…**

"Ibuki is here!" She said as she busted out of the brush.

"Why were you following me?" Togami asked.

"Well ya know, Ibuki was first talking Mahiru and Hiyoko and Akiko and Sonia but they all kinda left Ibuki after a while so IbukiStartedFollowingSoniaButSheWasJustLookingAtSomeWierdRopeAndIbukiGotBoredAndDecidedToLeaveAndThenIbukiNoticedTogamiAndDecidedToFollowHimButTh-"

"That's enough!" Togami interrupted. "There is something I want to know Ibuki, why are you following Togami specifically?"

"Huh!? Togami talks like Ibuki and Togami's name when its Togami talking!? WOOHOO! Ibuki found someone else like her!"

"You've completely missed the point!" Togami shouted back. "Why have you picked me specifically to follow? I threatened to join in this game if anyone dare commit another crime and yet no one is fearing me!"

"Well durr silly, no one took that joke super serious."

"So you take it as a joke, unsurprising of your character but everyone else still relies on me…" Togami said before I started thinking for a while… _I can't let this continue, something must be done…_ "Ibuki let's play a game."

"Sorry, Ibuki already promised to scrub Hiyoko's body."

"…" _One of the few times in my life I'm at a stump for words… just ignore that remark._ "Imagine you had any talent possible, what would it be?" Togami asked… _no, this no longer Togami talking, he would have little to say to this girl. I suppose this is the supposed 'me' talking. Is this girl really the answer to finding my own personality? Ridiculous… hm, maybe not._

"A crazy cool talent? Maybe like the Ultimate Mind reader or how about floater where you can jump from any high glide down or maybe a sprinter to run superfast or a musician to play any instrument, or, or, OR…! I dunno." Ibuki replied hastily.

"… What about a copycat?" I said trying to keep calm. "Imagine being able to know everyone else's secret and live as them."

"Oh that sounds fancy, then Ibuki can find out what Sonia does in the bathroom all the time!"

"…Yes, even that. You would be able to live as anyone you wanted to, but in exchange you would have to give your own identity. Ibuki would no longer exist."

"I see, I see… So for Ibuki to be everyone, she would have to be no one!"

"Exactly."

"No way, Ibuki can't do that. She's chosen by the gods to live on this earth!"

"I suppose, you do have a high opinion of yourself so I'm not surprised." I replied.

"Anyway, how would Ibuki pull it off? No one has this colour hair and Ibuki wouldn't know how to act like someone else."

"It would be difficult but one would get used to it." I said, _as always I can hint as much as I want and no one will get it. No one expects a talent like mine._

"I wonder Ibuki would do exactly… she would definitely live as Sonia in a large castle, who else… maybe Hajime so all the girls can love me… playing games all day like Chiaki would be fun, and also be Akane to have big bazonkas!"

"Hm, is that what pleases you? Well instead I would… I would…" I stuttered. _Hold on… what exactly did I do? I took people's identity… and… I…_ "I-I would use it to find out more information on people… as a job…"

"That sounds boring."

"W-Well let me give y-you an example…" _Why am I drawing a blank…? I know who I am, an imposter who uses other identities to find out more information… and yet I can't figure out what it is exactly I did. Is this amnesia…? Not only have I forgotten my school life but also my past… this cannot be a coincidence. Selective amnesia… Iappear to have forgotten everything about my job and how I worked… and yet I still remember my talents…_ "This conversation is over Ibuki, once again you will never understand the gravity of it but that's what makes you uniq-"

* **Chomp!***

"Gah! Why did you just bite me!?" I shouted.

"You got boring and didn't listen to Ibuki." She replied.

"Ibuki your judgment is preposterous and indecisively stupid!" Togami shouted back. "Casually following and harassing people like Byakuya Togami could result in your own demise, I could easily kill you at this moment! You must choose your friends carefully, especially in a game where your life is at risk!"

"…" Ibuki shrivelled slightly at my outburst.

"I suggest staying around the other girls, they are all more reliable and trustworthy friends. Other people are dangerous and can result in your own life costed! Now be gone!"

"…" Ibuki slowly turned around and trudged away.

 _There… that should keep her safe. Not that I'm happy about it._

* * *

 **Bing Bong Ding Dong**

" **Everyone… this is Monomi asking you all to meet up at the beach. We have an important event to hold to help bring back some hope for this island! *whisper* Oh and it's also mandatory to attend otherwise Monokuma will '** * * * * *** *' sorry, I had to censor that. Please hurry."**

"Hey girls you see that?" I called out.

"I did, we're being called again." Akiko responded.

"Guh, big sis Mahiru what does that nappy rabbit want now!?" Hiyoko complained.

"I don't know…" I replied.

"I think I do." Akiko said. "The last time Monomi grouped at the beach was for her minigame right?"

"Oh yeah, good thinking." I complimented.

"It mentions the use of minigames in the rules as well." Akiko said.

"Didn't Monokuma bring us to the park though for his stupid minigame?" Hiyoko mentioned.

"He did, we did the picture shooting game there. But the Monomi minigames are probably still going to be at the beach… we are required to have one daily due to the rules." Akiko said.

"It sounds kinda stupid… but I think we need to go since Monokuma enforced it." I advised.

"Lead the way."

…

 _Looks like most people made it to the beach, but we're definitely missing some people though._

"What the heck! Where's the rest of you!?" Monokuma shouted.

"E-Everyone needs to attend these events…" Monomi said from besides Monokuma.

"Not possible." Togami replied sternly.

"What!? And why the hell not!?" Monokuma shouted back.

"Two are unconscious and the other four of them are still at the hospital, where I told them to stay." Togami said.

"What?! You told them to directly disobey me!" Monokuma shouted enraged. "Why you…! You can't just ignore the rules… RAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWR!"

Sand started to whip up ferociously.

" _Kyaa…!"  
"What hell is going!?"  
"I can't see!"_

"You messed with the wrong BEEEAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!"

 **Crackle crack… static**

"Wh-What was that?" I asked in fear at the strange noise.

"Ooof, there we go." Monokuma said, pleased with himself. "No skipping class boys!"

"What the hell! How the fuck did I get here?" Kuzuryū swore.

"What are you doing here? What am I doing here!?" Soda shouted.

"Weren't we all in the hospital just a moment ago?" Hinata asked in confusion.

"What sort of dark art brought you here?" Tanaka questioned.

"How the hell should we know? I was there one moment and…" Soda rambled.

"Just, SHUT UP!" Monokuma shouted. "There we go, you all can talk about that later. For now let's address the issue at hand. The rules clearly state minigames must be performed at a regular basis, unfortunately the great Monokuma can't make a new one daily so that means we're going to have to resort to Monomi's minigames… but these would be too boring so I've decided to spice 'em up! You will now be competing against each other for… wait for it… wait for it… MEMORIES!"

" _Huh?"  
"Wha…?"  
"M-Memories!?"_

"Correct!" Monokuma answered. "You little skanks are going to compete for your own memories, now minigame platform, rise!"

 **Shake rumble**

As announced, the platform underneath us started raising and the spinning wheel also appeared, with the pixel faces of everyone that was here.

"And the theme for today's minigame is…" Monokuma announced as the wheel started to slow down… "M-a-h-i-r-u-!"

"Huh?" I cried.

"That's right, todays theme is your talent! Now get over here red head!" Monokuma shouted.

"G-Get away from me!"

 **-Poof-**

The world went black… but I wasn't unconscious. i just couldn't see.

 **Flicker**

Then light appeared… light from the sun. I took a quick glance at my surroundings, I was in some sort of glass cage alone the was suspended high. I could see the others far below me on the minigame platform.

"Wh-What's going on?" I called out to no one in particular.

"You're the ref of course." Monokuma said from above my cage. "We can't have the Ultimate photographer competing in a game based on cameras, that wouldn't be fair. So instead you're just going to watch them... that's it."

"Th-This is very suspicious you know!" I shouted back, trying to rally my self-confidence. "What gives you the right to mess with our memories like this? And why are you giving them back now through some sort of competition!?"

"Guh, just shut up won't you?" Monokuma shouted rudely. "Ok, here's how it's gonna work… Wait I need to tell this to them not you, here take this instead!" Monokuma then threw a small tablet at me before jumping down to the platform. The tablet looked like it was displaying a live feed of what was going on below.

"Alright listen up sluts! Wait can I say that… hold on a minute…" Monokuma pondered.

"No rude words in front of students or on camera! It isn't even past 9pm!" Monomi responded.

"Alright, so that's a yes then." Monokuma said. "So the rules of this little game of 'hope' that Monomi so kindly prepared are simple, so pay attention."

"Hold on do we really have to go through with this?!" Soda shouted.

The screen then displayed an artistically styled header with Monomi and Monokuma in the background.

* * *

 **Monomi minigame: Photo failures!**

 **You all have been given a camera to take one single picture, based on this picture you will earn points. You will gain a point for each person in your picture! But be careful, if you have your picture taken, you will be longer allowed to take a picture! (Your camera will turn off to indicate this) Those with the most points will earn a taste of their memories… so don't let anyone get in the way!**

"Oh no… you've turned my game of teamwork into a competition… This isn't how a Monomi minigame should be played!" Monomi argued.

"Hey, I only added a prize to it and made a minor adjustment. Now what are you waiting for kids? You're on an unknown time limit so get snapping!" Monokuma called out.

"So er… how are we doing this?" Soda asked nervously.

"We're not!" Togami interfered. "This kind of game was made to make us distrust each other. We're not going to compete."

"And what of our memories…?" Peko asked.

"None of you will win, it could be dangerous for all we know." Togami replied.

"What!? Maybe I want to know them asshole!" Kuzuryū shouted.

"Preposterous, it will onl-" Togami started to say but was interrupted.

 ***Click***

A camera went off.

 ***Click***

So did another one.

"Wh-What are you doing? I strictly forbade this!" Togami shouted.

"So what Mr. Ham Hands?" Hiyoko replied. "I actually want to win this, otherwise someone is just going to swoop in a take a picture when we don't expect it! That's what happens when you lower your guard!"

"Thinking like that will only further make things worse!" Togami scolded.

"B-But eh, she was right. Didn't someone else also take a picture? It was you wasn't it Kuzuryū!" Soda accused.

"Bastard! Of course it wasn't me!" Kuzuryū shouted back.

 ***Click***

"Opportunities come and go, I won't let mine slip into the everlasting void." Tanaka said as he finished with his disposable camera.

"Stop being so immature! Are you all stupid enough to fight for this game?" Togami roared.

 ***Cleeeeck*  
** _"Dammit my camera won't work! Someone must have taken my picture!"_

"It appears we've already descended into anarchy." Sonia desponded. "Our only option of escape is to wait it out."

"Perhaps it is better this way." Pekoyama said.

 **Stamp Cleeeck Rustle Crumple Click**

Everyone started to run around, some desperately trying to take a picture while others were trying their best to dive out of the way.

"Excuse me… but those of us that still have a shot to take should team up." Sonia called out. "I believe we still may be able to turn the tides in favour for those of us that coordinate.

"I still have a shot." Akiko mentioned.

"I do too…" Hinata mentioned.

"Only three of us?" Sonia gasped.

"Mine was taken." Pekoyama mentioned.

"Y-Yeah Saionji took mine…!" Soda complained.

"Of course I did, the wimpiest ones are always the dumbest to standstill." Hiyoko retorted.

"Yeah, someone must have taken mine as well." Nanami mentioned.

"I just took a photo randomly." Owari said casually.

"Fuhahahaha, you mere mortals may as well concede for I have bested you all!" Tanaka commanded.

"Tch, mines gone. Not that I really cared." Kuzuryū said in spite.

"Ibuki what about you?" Sonia asked.

" ***Sniffle*** Ibuki still has h-her shot." Ibuki said while holding back her tears.

"Hm? Didn't something happen Ibuki? You look very emotionally hurt." Sonia said in concern.

"She must have seen Mikan's ugly face!" Hiyoko answered.

"She isn't even here." Akiko mentioned.

"I-It was all Byakuya's fault. He said really mean things to Ibuki!" Ibuki shouted.

Everyone turned around to see Togami creeping towards a specific angle with a camera in hand.

"Togami? Y-You were trying to take a picture of us?" Hinata gasped.

"…" Togami stayed silent.

"When the leader has fallen to chaos, the herd shall soon follow." Tanaka commented.

"Even Togami has turned his back on us." Pekoyama said.

"That's not it." Togami replied. "If you're all going to riot then I will take it upon myself to win this game and prove dangers of the prize."

"That's like a fancy way of saying you just want to win!" Soda accused.

"He was going to take advantage of all you idiots going near Ibuki and take a picture!" Saionji added on.

"Not cool man!" Owari said as she punched her fists together.

"It can't be helped if none of you want to listen to me, but I am warning you now not all as it appears to be! This is a trap set by Monokuma!" Togami shouted as he raised his camera and took aim at the large group.

 ***Cl-Phoot*** * **Crack!** *

"What on earth!?" Togami shouted as he looked at his shattered camera on the floor, and arrow was protruding out of a large metal part. Everyone looked back at Akiko who had her bow unslung and was in a firing pose.

"I won't allow such traitorous actions to happen." Akiko said. "Using a girl's emotions to gather a crowd… despicable."

"Holy crap! She just shot at Togami!" Soda screamed. "A-Actually that was pretty cool."

"My target was the camera and that alone. I won't guarantee it next time though." Akiko threatened in a new harsh tone.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" Togami spat back.

"Ibuki, I believe justice dictates you take our picture." Akiko asked with a friendly smile.

"…" Ibuki had her jaw dropped but managed to recover with her old exited demeanour.

"Hold crab on a crab stick was that cool! Ok, ok! Ibuki taking the picture in three two one!" She exclaimed before rapidly raising her camera.

 ***Click***

"And time!" Monokuma said. "It appears everyone's camera is now out of order so the results will appear momentarily… who has the most points? Oh I can't wait… but to be honest I think just watching this go down is faaar better than the results."

 **Hajime, Chiaki, Byakuya, Akiko, Sonia, Kazuichi, Peko – 0 points**

 **Akane – 1 point**

 **Hiyoko – 3 points**

 **Fuyuhiko, Gundham – 4 points**

 **Ibuki – 6 points**

"Now then, Monomi you can do the rest I'm bored." Monokuma said before leaving the place.

"Well that wasn't how I wanted this to go…" Monomi said sadly. "However we do have a winner so Ibuki enjoy your memory fragment!"

* * *

 **Ibuki's memory fragment**

" **How I almost got kicked out of Hope's Peak!"**

Ibuki was in class with all her classmates around her.

"I have the reports from yer tests…" The teacher called out. He was an old rough man with a harsh tone. " _Most_ of yer passed…"

"Most of us?" Sonia gasped. "What ever happened?"

"I was gettin' to that!" The teacher shouted… _What was his name? Kariudo… Kariudo Amori…_

"Koizumi, pass. Yano, pass. Hanamura, pass. Sonia, pass. Kuzuryū, pass. Nidai, pass. Hojo, pass. Soda, pass. Tsumiki, pass. Amori, pass. Nanami, pass. Togami, pass. Komaeda, pass. Tanaka, pass. Tsuki, pass. Sato, pass. Owari, pass. Pekoyama, pass. Mioda, fail. Saionji, pass. Everyone but Mioda 'as passed this month."

"So whaaat? Tests don't matter here anyway." I said melodically.

"Um, Ibuki…" Sonia called out. "But uh, this is the third month in a row you've failed."

"The academy accepts no attendance to class as long the subjects are working to improve their monthly talents." Kariudo read off paper. "We 'old monthly exams to test that the students are indeed improving, continuous failures will result in expulsion."

"Uh oh." Kettei said.

"This is most unfortunate; we cannot have Ibuki leave us!" Sonia gasped loudly.

"Having her talent full of hope leave us would be disastrous!" Nagito said creepily.

"Is there anything we can do for her Amori?" Mahiru asked.

"The academy won't just throw Mioda on the streets." He replied. "They relish each and every talent… but if she fails again, they won't need convincing that her talent has gone stale. A stale talent is easily replaced."

"Such devilry, the god of hell itself runs these exams." Gundham commented.

"Ibuki's talents haven't gone stale! They just aren't for the tastes of this Academy!" Ibuki shouted back.

"Or anyone else in the world for that matter." Kariudo countered. "Your best chance is to find Mioda performing at her best when everyone else's ears stay on, record it, and send it to the 'eadmaster 'imself. That should buy her another few months."

"Isn't that a short term strategy?" Togami retorted.

"Did I ask for yer input?!" Kariudo snapped. "Yer all 'ave prey to chase for now, so get hunting. I don't want paperwork on my desk about Mioda's leave or my job at risk. Get at it."

"So uh, how are we going to do this?" Kazuichi asked.

"Ibuki's music is just fine! She doesn't need to change it one bit!" Ibuki shouted.

"Well then I guess everything is fine." Akane said.

"It clearly isn't! We've gotta get Ibuki a stage and quick!" Sokudo shouted.

"Yeah… except we're going to need to do more than that!" Ātisu corrected.

 _Hmmm? Ibuki doesn't recognise these two and… yet Ibuki is sure she knows them. Sokudo Hojo… Ātisu Yano… They are ultimate's in Ibuki's class, and yet they aren't on the island. And where is Hajime?_

"How do you intend to give Ibuki her talent back, for it was her own doing that lost it." Gundham said.

"Y-Yeah, what a-are we g-going to do i-if Ibuki already failed three exams in a r-row?" Mikan stuttered.

"SHOW SOME SPIRIT!" Nekomaru shouted.

"Kyaaa! I-I'm sorry." Mikan apologised.

"I can show you some of my spirit if you want…" Teruteru mentioned.

"Now then, let's work together to help Ibuki!" Nekomaru roared.

"Shouting about it won't help the situation you know." Togami said from the corner of the classroom. "Ibuki was scouted because of her skills in performing in a band."

"But Ibuki left those nerds because they were getting in her way!" Ibuki shouted back.

"Well then, to pass the exams all you need to do is find them or a substitute band and create a performance. That will be suitable enough." Togami said.

"So all we need to do is find band members that will perform with Ibuki. That doesn't sound too hard." Chiaki added on.

"I suppose Ibuki can do one show in a band again. She doesn't want the same old girls! She needs new and fresh people!" Ibuki explained.

"Well I'm sure if you all put your hopes together anything is possible." Nagito said.

"Ugh, will you ever shut up about that you creep!" Hiyoko complained.

"Behave Nagito." Peko enforced.

"Does anyone have someone they know that could help?" Mahiru asked.

"I know a singer you could perform with. She has a popular teen idol band." Togami said.

"I could help cover costs of the performance and set up ticket costs so we can break even. I'm well educated in the art of businessing." Sonia offered.

"I see, I see. But Ibuki needs an audience!

"W-We still need to advertise it then." Mikan answered.

"I could work on a poster then!" Ātisu offered. "I'll need some pictures of people though!"

"Yeah, of course I'll help with that." Mahiru said.

"I'll hang up all the posters then!" Sokudo said excitedly.

"More! Ibuki wants this to be a super large event!"

"The rest of us can spread the word then!" Nekomaru shouted.

"I can do that." Kettei said.

"I have friends to tell." Sato mentioned.

"I could tell all my online friends but I don't know if they'll come…" Chiaki said.

"Don't worry, I could hook it up to a livestream for them to watch!" Kazuichi offered.

"I could tell all the old guys that watch me dance… hehe." Hiyoko giggled.

"I'll gather a few demons to test their strengths against your music." Gundham offered.

"Tch, some of my folks might be able to join… no guarantees." Fuyuhiko said.

"I can act as security if needed." Peko said.

"Yeah me too, I'll chase anyone that doesn't listen!" Akane offered.

"There's going to be a lot of people right?!" Teruteru said. "I'll cook up a huge feast for everyone to enjoy!"

"Ohhh baby this is going to be GREAAAAAT!" Ibuki shouted.

"Well yer all look like you know what yer doing. Get to it." Kariudo said...

 **Memory fragment complete**

* * *

"Hey Ibuki… are alright?" Tsumiki asked in concern. _After a lot ruckus we eventually came back down to the beach and Koizumi came back saying she was just witnessing the whole thing. Now Ibuki is staring into space…_

"Hajime maybe you should go separate them. We've got Ibuki." Chiaki said to me before pointing at an angry Togami shouting at a frustrated Sato.

"Ok…" I said before heading over to the two. _Why do I have to do this?_

"Give me back my arrow!" Sato commanded while Togami held a large piece of scrap that had been penetrated by her arrow.

"You fired it at me and expect me to return it? Don't be foolish." Togami spat.

"Considering what you did, I had every right to fire! Now give it back!" Sato shouted even louder.

"You clearly don't understand the lack of safety at risk." Togami sighed in a condescending tone.

"You don't understand your boundaries Togami!" Sato retorted. "Now hand back before I…"

"Before you what?" Togami snarled. He then yanked the arrow out of the scrap parts and held it with two hands, one at each end, as if he was about to snap it. "You can't be trusted with it!"

 ***Creaaaak***

It almost sounded like the arrow was whimpering as Togami's hand slowly bent it, pushing the wood to its limits.

 ***Shuf***

Within a blink of an eye Sato had readied her bow with another arrow prepped to fire, this directly at Togami.

"W-Woah!" I shouted in panic.

"You break that arrow, and I'll release the shot." Sato said in a malicious tone, her eyes staring daggers at Togami, who had somehow managed to complete remain calm.

"So this is of more importance then I though…" Togami said out loud, as if monologueing to himself.

"Give. It. Back." Sato said, somehow drawing the strings of her bow even more.

"B-Both of you! Calm down!" I tried to interject but they both gave me no attention.

"Don't be ridiculous, you shoot me here and you'll get executed for murder." Togami replied.

"…" Sato's gaze grew harsher at his words. "Not if I don't kill you with it."

"A-Akiko please calm down!" Koizumi shouted as she ran to join us.

"Not until I get _that_ arrow back."

"Mr. Ham Hands is totally pushing his luck; I wonder what he bleeds like?" Saionji mocked.

"Both of you, cut it out!" Pekoyama commanded but neither of them backed down.

"This is bad man!" Soda screeched.

"Sato, I'll give you the arrow back, under one condition." Togami declared.

"Hm." Sato made a grunt of a disapproval.

"Hand me the bow."

…

 _What did he just say?_

"You… you've gone too far this time Togami." Sato hissed.

"You've clearly proven that your emotions take control of you, you're a liability to the group. If Monokuma pulls the rights strings you'd easily be manipulated to become a murderer." Togami said.

"…" Sato continued her stare. Pulling on the string even harder, it felt like it was about to snap if she drew it anymore. "Over my dead body will you claim this bow of mine."

"Such ignorance." Togami sighed.

"YOU PIE-" Sato screamed.

"Stop!" I shouted before jumping in between them recklessly… actually I wasn't alone. Koizumi was at my back as well. I faced Togami in the eyes while she faced Sato.

"My point has been proven even more." Togami said.

"Why are you edging her on!?" I shouted at Togami.

"Don't you understand yet? Monokuma works by exploiting our weaknesses so that we commit murder? Sato's weakness is her emotions, take away her bow and she can't do anything." Togami explained.

"You have no right to have that much control over another person." Sato hissed.

"A-Akiko… please! Just drop the bow…!" Koizumi begged.

"…Alright." Sato submitted, dropping the bow and relieving it of the arrow prepped to fire.

"You finally understand?" Togami asked.

"Don't get me wrong Togami, I still need that arrow back." Sato demanded.

"H-Hey it's just an arrow… you've got plenty in your quiver and you can buy more at the supermarket." Soda said.

"No… you don't understand." Sato replied.

"I think I might understand…" Sonia said. "In old Japanese times, Samurai were taught to treat their weapons with respect. Their swords carry their souls while their bow shares their spirit."

"This is the modern day though, there are no more samurai!" Kuzuryū shot down.

"No, Sonia is right." Sato countered. "It was a matter of my upbringing, brought up like a samurai so I have to act like one. My sword, bow and arrows all carry meaning, so I suggest you hand the latter back."

"What if Pekoyama holds you weapons; she is of similar status." Togami suggested.

"I'm afraid not." Pekoyama replied. "My training not that of a samurai, it was more modern and… unique."

"Whatever, just give the arrow back already, this is fucking stupid." Kuzuryū said.

"It's of great disgrace to hand such a weapon to someone of different status, unless they are a direct superior or servant." Sonia explained. "It is quite difficult to adapt such old rules to modern day social life."

"Hmph, I had no idea people still lived under such old rules." Togami said. "Grgh, this has the made situation a lot more difficult. Have it back…" Togami finally conceded but with a pissed voice. He shoved the arrow in my hands and turned his back before walking off.

"It appears fate was tempted to is must, a millimetre more and Togami would have had to deal with Cerberus of the underworld." Tanaka fathomed.

I held the arrow in front of me, it not only held a certain weight to it but there was more to it that met the eye. The hawk feathers looked pristine, as if they were taken care. On the bamboo shaft that was slightly cracked due to Togami, their appeared to be some sort of marking in Kanji… _Kachimushi?_

"Hinata, if you would?" Sato asked to me.

O-Of course." I said somewhat nervously as I handed the arrow back.

"Repairable… Togami's lucky it wasn't permanently damaged." Sato said.

"Is it that important?" I asked.

"Each arrow carried a special meaning… one I won't leave behind." Sato said seriously.

 _I knew she looked like a warrior… but I never realised just how serious, or dangerous, of a character Sato really is… a modern day Samurai…_

"I… um… like some time to myself…" Sato suddenly said uncomfortably before walking away.

"Let us depart, the only thing left after the battle are poppies that hold the screams of the fallen." Tanaka announced before walking away.

"Ugh, I can't bear to hear anymore!" Saionji said in frustration at Tanaka before walking off.

"Hehe… well I guess since nothing happened I'll just go as well." Soda said unnerved.

"I wanted to talk more about Japanese culture with Akiko… but now is probably not the best time…" Sonia said before walking off.

"I'll take Ibuki to Tsumiki since everyone seems to have forgotten about her." Chiaki said escorting a dazed Ibuki.

One by one, everyone walked off, leaving only me and Koizumi. Clearly we were still both too shaken up to move.

"S-Stop shaking!" Koizumi ordered.

"M-Me? Look at yourself! You're shaking just as much!" _Jumping in front of someone who has a bow drawn has that sort of effect I guess… no surprise there._

"Y-Yeah…" Koizumi said nervously… "H-Hey Hinata… good job there."

"Y-You too… that was a close one." I replied.

"Just try to keep Togami from doing anything stupid!"

"I-I don't have any control over him! There's a better chance of you calming down Sato."

"Why can't boys just listen to other boys!?" She shouted at me.

"S-Sorry but I don't have that sort of authority over Togami…" I said in defence. "I'm going to head back to the hospital… Togami's going to mad if I don't return soon."

"Alright… hey are you guys really gonna spend the night there?"

"Apparently…"

"I'll uh… make you guys lunch for your work… Just don't slack off ok!?"

"Th-There's no way we can slack off, there isn't anything to do." I said in defence. _The moment I think she's about to compliment a guy, and somehow it doesn't feel like it._

"Ok, I'm going to try talk to Akiko…" Koizumi said before leaving me alone on the beach.

 _That minigame couldn't have gone much worse. Togami did say these were made to turn us against each other… but no one must have expected it to be that bad. I guess I need to go as well… like Chiaki said, everyone forgot that Ibuki apparently remembered something…_

Slowly I walked back to the hospital, all warned out.

"Tsumiki?" I called out once I entered the hallway.

"O-Oh, you're b-back." Tsumiki replied.

"A lot happened."

"N-Nanami filled me in on everything…"

"Oh, how is Ibuki then?" I asked.

"Eff eye en ee!" I heard Ibuki sing, jumping out of a room.

"Y-Yeah… she w-was j-just d-dazed… nothing dangerous." Tsumiki explained.

"Ibuki feels great again!" Ibuki sang even louder.

"D-Did you remember anything?" I asked quickly. _Am I anxious? Nervous? What's this feeling?_

"Oh yeah, Ibuki did some remembering!" She replied.

"What was it?"

"Ah, nothing much. It was just Ibuki in a classroom at Hopes Peak."

"Th-That's really important!"

"Naah, she just talked to her classmates like she does here." Ibuki said nonchalantly.

"You remember the people on this island?" I asked.

"Yup, they were all in class with Ibuki!"

"E-Everyone?" I asked hesitantly

"Yup."

"R-Really? Even me?" I asked. _Why am I asking that… of course I would be there…! Right…!_

"Ehm… yeah! Ibuki saw everyone." She replied.

"if you saw me there then do you think you could remember my talent?" I asked.

"Well, Ibuki didn't really 'remember' it… more like Ibuki saw it. Like a movie."

"Wh… So… you don't know…?" I asked in depression.

"Nope… Sorry Hajime. Ibuki needs to go wright up what she saw cuz Chiaki asked… bye!"

"Wait! You sure I was there?" I asked in slight desperation.

"Hehe…. Yeah… Ibuki saw you…" She said hesitantly before walking off. I slumped against the wall at the news…

 _Something isn't right… Something is up… why… why is this happening to me?! I just… I just want to remember my talent… what I'm proud of… what I live off… what I believe in… What I'm…_ _ **confident**_ _in…_

* * *

 **Yeah, I took a 2 month break off fanfiction. I bought the games and played them to revive my hype after DR3 and now I'm ready to pump out chapters again! I'll probably freshen up the previous few chapters a bit before the next one but eh, it feels great to write again!**


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